Homegrown leadership
for our growing community.

I Like Mike!

Meet Mike

Michael Benjamin, II, is a proud product of the Sacramento City Unified School District, and has spent much of his life in service as an educator, a mentor, and as a leader.

Born and raised in Oak Park, Mike attended Tahoe Elementary, California Middle School, and Sacramento High - and his love for community service started early in his life while watching his parents work in the Sacramento community.

As a child, Mike bounced between his father’s work with the Sacramento Repertory Theater and his mother’s Black Culture Day meetings. His parents, Michael, Sr., and Dorothy, have instilled into him the core values of giving back and supporting others.

After graduating from Sacramento State and attending Howard University in Washington, D.C., Mike taught in the District of Columbia public school system as a special education teacher. He returned to Sacramento and was hired by the Sacramento City Unified School District as a specialist working in a special education classroom at Sam Brannan Middle School.

Throughout the years, Mike has worked in numerous school professional roles, including with the Sacramento County Office of Education and the Los Rios Community College District - most recently, he worked with the SCUSD “Safe Schools” Department, where he was responsible for fostering safe and healthy school environments at elementary, middle, and high schools across the district.

Mike has continued to focus on his love for building human capacity by founding “Fades4Grades” in 2010, a comprehensive mental health program that looks to turn barbershops into trusted mental health facilities. And, in 2019, he brought community members together to launch the Sacramento Urban Learning Academy, which provides education and employment programming that links academic achievement with community health, education, art, and employment resources.

Mike currently serves as the District Director for Sacramento Vice Mayor Caity Maple, as a board member for the Oak Park Neighborhood Association, and has completed the City of Sacramento’s City Management Academy and the City Planning Academy. He resides in South Oak Park.

Elected Officials, Unions, and Organizations

  • Sacramento City Teachers Association

  • SEIU 1021

  • Latino Democratic Club of Sacramento

  • FemDems of Sacramento

  • Laborers Local 185

  • Sheet Metal Workers Local 104

  • Sacramento-Sierra Building Trades

  • Lavinia “Gracie” Phillips
    SCUSD Board President

  • Chinua Rhodes
    SCUSD Trustee, Area 5

  • Darrell Steinberg
    Mayor, City of Sacramento

  • Caity Maple
    Vice Mayor, City of Sacramento

  • Karina Talamantes
    Mayor Pro Tem, City of Sacramento

  • Eric Guerra
    Councilmember, City of Sacramento

  • Sen. Angelique Ashby
    California State Senate, District 8

  • Zima Creason
    Trustee, San Juan Unified School District

  • Dave Tamayo
    SMUD Board Member

  • Christopher Clark
    Trustee, Folsom/Cordova Unified School District

Mike’s Supporters

Community Leaders & Local Residents

  • Ray Lazado
    Director, SCUSD Safe Schools

  • Jackie Rose
    CEO, Rose Family Creative Development Center

  • Ryan K. Brown
    President, Sacramento County Young Democrats

  • Mark Meeks
    Pastor, City Church

  • Eric Gravenberg
    Hawk Foundation

Endorse Mike for School Board

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