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The mission of Grantland L. Johnson Institute of Leadership Development is to assist in the preparation of a diverse and talented group of emergent leaders who will develop and serve their communities with a sense of aligned vision, shared noble cause and ongoing commitment to exemplary public service.

As Grantland Johnson’s life was, from a very early age, focused on making a meaningful contribution that would serve and enhance the common good, especially for those less privileged, so the purpose of the Institute in his name is focused on participants of less privileged and minority groups, including women, who would perhaps not have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills as emerging public servants.

"My mission in life is to promote the right and to create opportunities for every Californian to attain a decent standard of living, have access to the best possible education and health care, to live in safe communities with a quality environment, and, most of all, to live free of racial and gender barriers. The time that I spent at "Sac State" was instrumental in molding my ideas and aspirations in life. The professors and instructors were concerned not only with the development of the mind, but character as well. With the support of mentors like my grandmother, the late Mayor of Sacramento Joe Serna, Jr., San Francisco Mayor and former California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, and many others too numerous to mention, I emerged an idealistic person, but with the requisite skills, abilities, and knowledge to proudly stand where I am today."