Meeting Speaker - March 15, 2016
RICK JENNINGS, II – Sacramento Vice Mayor - was born in Houston, TX and raised in Washington, DC. In 1972, he earned a football and track scholarship to the University of Maryland graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice.
Drafted in 1976 in the 11th round by the Oakland Raiders Professional Football team, returning punts and kickoffs, The Oakland Raiders won Super Bowl XI with a score of 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings, Rick bleeds Silver and Black and wears his Super Bowl ring proudly.
From 1980 to 1992, Rick worked as a Sales Representative and eventually Regional Sales Manager for the Xerox Corporation. Since 1997 has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Fathers and Families (CFF), a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families and building communities in Sacramento. CFF serves over 1,800 at-risk youth each day with after school programs and 100 adults weekly with parenting, anger management, domestic violence classes, and health services.
Mr. Jennings was elected to Sacramento City Unified School Board of Directors in 1996. He was re elected to two more terms serving 12 years representing the youth and parents of the Sacramento region.
Rick was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2014 to represent District Seven. He represents the communities of Greenhaven, Pocket, the Detroit Boulevard area, Delta Shores as well as large portion of the Valley Hi community. He was named Vice Mayor for the City of Sacramento in January of 2016.
Rick and his wife of 36 years, Cassandra, are the proud parents of a son, TJ, a college basketball coach and community college administrator in Hanford, CA, and a daughter, Asha, an attorney in Abu Dhabi. In his spare time, Rick is enjoying his role as a grandfather to Lyla Camile, Brinkley Dai, and Layani Corine.