Ricky Roberts III

Ricky Roberts III is the author of nine books, When Depression Hits, Thank You Skateboarding, YOU, What Really Matters, Where Did the Gift Go, Awakening the New You: A Path to Transformation, Just for Youth, Healing the Wounded Child Within: Heal Your Wounds, Change Your Life, and Far From Easy: What It Takes to Make Your Dreams a Reality. He is also an inspirational speaker and founder of You Are Valued (YAV).

Roberts has the privilege of connecting with 1000’s youth and adults yearly, in various settings, from maximum-security detention centers to national conferences to middle and high school classrooms.

As a young person, Roberts was exposed to and experienced abuse on many levels, impacting his perception of love and self-worth. After being stabbed nine times at the age of 17, Roberts let go of his role as a victim and began to ask: how he could use everything he had experienced to impact others positively. Roberts takes everything he has learned, not only from his healing process but from those he has had the privilege to help in theirs, and fuses it into his continued effort to best understand how he may be of service to others.

Today, Ricky inspires through his writings, speaking engagements, workshops, and efforts with the YAV Movement, which has reached Indonesia, South Africa, and Paris (to name a few) and continues to expand in the states, and his interaction with others in his daily living.

Outside of writing, Ricky enjoys skateboarding, surfing, drawing, and spending time with his lovely wife and their two dogs.

Roberts is devoted to reaching people positively wherever he may be.