Giovannetti began his career in 1974 as an Educational Graphics/Public Relations specialist for the Title III ESEA Northern Indian California Education (NICE) Project in 1974. He worked as a Personnel/Public Relations Specialist at Redwoods Community College District from 1975-76. From 1976 to 1979 he directed the First Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) equity program for low-income American Indians and other historically disadvantaged persons of color. He served as Region IX EOPS Director's Association liaison to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office for the 1978-79 school year. He also served on the College of the Redwoods Title IX/Affirmative Action Committee from 1976-1979. In November of 1979 Giovannetti began a 14 year tenure as Coordinator of Indian Education Programs for the Eureka City Schools.
He took a modest-sized program through a vigorous student identification period, increasing funding to what would become the fifth largest Indian Education program in the state of California (1,000 Indian students). He managed Title IV, V (now Title IX) programs, as well as Johnson-O'Malley contracts with the BIA. While with the Eureka School District, he co-authored many resolutions affecting Indian students which were adopted at national NIEA Conferences, including opposition to achievement testing of Indian students. From 1983-84 he served as a member of the California Innovation and Planning Commission. State Department of Education. Giovannetti served as a consultant to the High Risk Youth Liaison/Field Recovery Services Unit of the California State Department of Education in 1985, recommending methods to cut down on drop-out rates of children in California. From 1986 to 1988 he was a member of the Humboldt County Psychology and the Law Committee, providing counseling to Indian youth and adults incarcerated in either Humboldt County's Juvenile Hall and Jail. He has served as an expert witness in cases involving American Indian children. He concurrently worked as a Substance Abuse Clinician at Humboldt County Mental Health's Alcohol and Drug Programs from 1989 to 1993. He also served as Interim Director for the Two Feathers Indian Child Welfare Act program for the Bear River, Mattole, Wiyot Reservation in 1993. In 1993-94 he helped found the Jay-yosh-thke Drum and Dance Society in Eureka, CA to help introduce inter-tribal dancing and singing to off-reservation Indian children. He co-sponsored a 1993 New Year's Eve Youth Sobriety Pow-Wow at Eureka, CA. He was Director of the Robert Wood Johnson funded "Healthy Nations" Project in 1993-94 at the United Indian Health Services.