Many campus departments and organizations, like the Career Center and UNIQUE, partner up with the Leadership Initiative program to host events that educate students on how to build their professional and academic skills.

The program offers more than 150 events each semester and encourages students to explore different campus resources.

“I came to Sac State as an EOP student,” said junior recreation, parks and tourism administration major Susie Avalos. “I was introduced to Leadership Initiative and it made me participate in activities that I wouldn’t even have thought of attending. It helped me make a lot of connections on campus like the job I have and the friends I’ve made.”

The LI program is designed for students to gain skills and knowledge by attending workshops and events that teach leadership development.

There are four certificates, or stages, that participants must earn in sequence: Green, Gold, Hornet Pride and Leadership Initiative certificates.

The Green and Gold certificates require the participant to attend three workshops and five events from the areas of growth.

The required events are divided into five areas of growth: appreciating diversity, campus life, professional development, service and wellness.

These events are hosted by many of LI’s partnerships with campus groups such as PARC, Student Health and Counseling Services, Associated Students, Inc. and UNIQUE.

“In general, appreciating diversity is a category that teaches students about history of a culture. One recent event that a lot of students attended would be the Golden Acrobats event, which was last Thursday night,” said leadership programs coordinator for Students Organizations & Leadership Christina Armstrong

Professional development teaches students how to succeed academically or in their occupation. These events include study skills workshops, career fairs or etiquette dinners.

The service category encourages students to volunteer and help others. The blood drives on campus are the most popular service events.

Campus life deals with any kind of event that promotes school spirit. Participants can cheer for campus sports teams, join activities and attend concerts.

“I’m attending the Tinashe concert for a campus life event and everyone else should too,” said freshman pre-nursing student Zariah Carter.

The final category, wellness, provides events that encourages students on how to take care of themselves. Students Health and Counseling Services host many of these events, like Working Out Your Stress and healthy cooking demos.

Armstrong explains the Green certificate workshops as they are focused on individual values, “Who are you as a person? As a leader? What are your values? Interests? Are your beliefs about certain things?”

She explains the Gold certificate workshops are focused on group values. “Now that you know who you are, how does that impact the way you work with others in a group? What are your leadership styles? How do you work with a group to achieve a common goal? How do you handle disagreements in a civil way?”

As students earn the remaining certificates, the focus of the program urges them to collaborate their individual and group values and turn them into leadership abilities.

Armstrong said the Hornet Pride workshops emphasize community values and citizenship within a group.

For the Leadership Initiative certificate, there are no required workshops or events. Participants earning at this final stage will put together everything they have learned and host workshops/events for those starting the program. After students earn the final certificate, there are no more structured requirements and they are encouraged to take on campus leadership roles.

The program is designed for a student to complete within any span of time. If a participant has earned credit for attending events or workshops, it will never expire.

If interested in joining, students must use their SacLink account information to log in through orgsync.com/cas/sacramento-state.