Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento, California, was born in Californias capital city in 1966. He graduated from Sacramento High School, where he led the state in basketball scoring during his senior year, with a point average of 32.5 points. Johnson then played college basketball at the University of California at Berkeley.  While there he became the all-time leader in scoring for that varsity team.  After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1987, Johnson was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA).

As the seventh round draft pick, Johnson was chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was quickly traded to the Phoenix Suns in 1988, where he remained for the duration of his career in the NBA. Johnson played point guard, and with his high point-scoring, was considered by many teams as a threat. The Phoenix Suns overall record improved with his selection and so did Johnsons performance.

During his first year with Phoenix (1988-1989), Johnson was named the NBAs most improved player.  He also competed in all-star games in 1990, 1991, and 1994 and played on the U.S. Olympic Basketball team (Dream Team II) which won a gold medal in Toronto, Canada in the 1994 World Championship of Basketball.  Kevin Johnson officially retired from the NBA on August 8, 2000 after 13 years in the league.

While Kevin Johnson was achieving success and fame in the NBA, his old Sacramento neighborhood began to deteriorate due to the rise of the crack cocaine epidemic and the accompanying gang violence.  Johnson decided to return to Sacramento to do what he could to turn around the desperate conditions which had destroyed the lives of his childhood friends and high school teammates.   He became part of an ongoing effort to reclaim his neighborhood and similar ones throughout the city.  

Johnson founded and is currently CEO of St. Hope, a non-profit community development organization he created with his former high school, Sacramento High.  Johnson and his family (he was part of the third generation of his family to attend the