Miami Gardens advocate Ruban Roberts works to help teens and families: ‘That’s my purpose’

The classroom at Overtown’s Lindsey Hopkins Technical College was abuzz with chatter when Ruban Roberts walked in to lead a Teen Talk session last month. At his request, the group of adolescent students quickly arranged their chairs in a circle.

“You can specialize in anything you put your mind to,” he said before asking the students about their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Roberts, 55, is the CEO of RER Consulting, a Miami Gardens-based consulting firm that provides program development, public speaking and community engagement strategies. He started the Teen Talks four years ago to give students at local schools an open space to discuss topics that matter to them. Those regular chats with Miami-Dade youth are one reason Roberts will receive the Children Trust Miami’s Excellence in Advocacy Award on April 11, recognizing him for the work he’s done with children and families over the years.

Roberts’ Teen Talk discussion topics range from mental health to police relations to personal finance. The students come from different parts of Miami-Dade County, and Roberts uses his own experience of growing up in Miami to connect with them.

Born in the Bahamas, Roberts first visited Miami when he was 3. His parents had recently separated and he moved with his American mother, Malois Everett, to Overtown. He often went back to visit his father’s family after the move.

“We lived in modest neighborhoods in the U.S. with my mother, and she was a hard worker,” he said. “I got a chance to be exposed to a lot of different things in the communities I lived in.”

The differences between his affluent neighborhood in the Bahamas and their more working-class Overtown neighborhood became evident to Roberts. Many of his friends had good hearts but were misdirected by their circumstances, he said.

As a college student at Barry University in the mid-1980s, Roberts majored in computer science and was focused on having a career in tech. A summer internship working with community advocate Georgia Jones Ayers, a civil rights activist who worked to improve community relations with the police, changed that.

“I needed a summer job, and she worked with a last-chance program for juveniles in the mid-80s,” he said. “I was a very young man, and I worked with young kids that reminded me of the friends I had in the community. That summer changed my whole trajectory. I decided to become a therapist.”

The work that summer was rewarding for Roberts in unexpected ways. One program participant commended him for simply having a positive conversation, while another thanked Roberts for taking him to get a haircut that he wouldn’t have been able to afford on his own. “It was the most fulfilling thing ever,” Roberts said. “That’s what led me to the path I’m on.”

Working with young people is important to Roberts, and his Teen Talk sessions are an extension of that. He doesn’t diminish their experiences and speaks to them in a direct, intentional way.

Partnering with Miami-Dade County Public Schools has allowed Roberts to continue his advocacy. He has worked with Student Success Centers like the one at Lindsey Hopkins for the past four years. At Student Success Centers, students who are behind on the credit hours they should have at their age get a second chance.

“What ends up happening when you have those situations is kids get discouraged, they’re too mature to be in the group they’re in and drop out of school,” he said. “Dade County Schools created these centers to give them an opportunity to get the credits and accelerate into their proper grade.”

A shift in media consumption has helped Roberts understand current trends in technology and how that affects his communication with young people.

“It’s the TikTok era, so one of the things happening from a mental perspective, is that if I’ve watched 30 clips, I can’t tell you what the first is about,” he said. “Although we’re making some headway because of modern advancement, we’re facing new challenges.”

When Roberts isn’t speaking to teens or working with families, he enjoys spending time with his own. He speaks with excitement about his son Rashad, 23, and his wife, Kimberly.

As Roberts builds on his 15 years of consultancy, he wants to continue prioritizing mental health and wellness among the people he engages. His company organizes a tour for teens to visit historically Black colleges, during which he also discusses mental health and wellness. He also works with the city of Miami to conduct mental health and wellness workshops and seminars.

“I have a charge to make sure that while I’m here in this space on earth, I impact people’s lives in a positive way,” he said. “That’s my purpose. I want to help as many people that need that support. My purpose in life is to give back.”