On the corner of South Market Street and East Hillcrest Boulevard lies Market Nails, a staple of Inglewood’s historic Market Street for over 30 years. Owner Lisa Tran, provides her customers with a wide assortment of styles for shapes and polish.

Tran grabs her nail file, bringing her customer’s hand into the bright white beam of her lamp’s light, like a performer taking the stage under a spotlight.

Tran’s center of attention is unwavering as she focuses solely on refining her client’s custom-made acrylic nails.

A focus that suddenly breaks as a tall six-foot-one man, carrying a blended green smoothie, strolls by with a slow yet confident strut.

“Hey, Lisa!”

“Hey! Hi Brett, how are you? Going to take a walk today?”

Tran has been doing Brett Roberts’ mother’s nails since he was only 10 years old. While doing routine touch-ups and coatings on the weekends, Tran saw him grow up before her eyes.

Now 30 years later, Brett Roberts is a community leader with many different responsibilities that are all threaded together through the city of Inglewood.

Roberts is a member of El Camino College’s Board of Trustees, a community relations manager for LA Metro, an Inglewood Traffic and Parking commissioner, a campaign organizer for Barack Obama, a 61st State Assembly District Democratic Alternate-Delegate and a world traveler seeking to facilitate growth in the city of Inglewood through his various positions.

As a member of the Board of Trustees, Roberts proudly represents his position, wearing a blue custom-made El Camino College windbreaker jacket that shows his name above “Area Seat One,” Roberts’ position on the board.

In Area Seat One, Roberts represents El Camino College in the communities of Inglewood and Ladera Heights. It’s Inglewood though that is cemented in Roberts’ life.

On a warm yet breezy Friday morning in the fall, Roberts walked around Market Street greeting store owners he would often visit, reminiscing about his childhood and growing up around Inglewood.

Now a proud Inglewood resident, Roberts was born in the city and raised in Los Angeles by his grandmother Lillie Roberts and single mother Margaret Roberts. They did everything they could for Roberts, from taking him on numerous road trips, museums and reading Amelia Bedelia novels. All this eventually led him to develop a natural interest in his city and the world around him.

“All of that stuff just sparked a natural curiosity in me that was baked in from the start because of the foundation that my mom and my grandma laid for me. They really played a vital role in my upbringing,” Roberts said.

Inglewood has now become a cornerstone not only to his daily livelihood but to his overall welfare too.

“That’s the thing about Inglewood, it’s like a little big city where you got the local shops, local businesses and so forth. We’re in the backdrop of Los Angeles but it’s still got this small-town kind of feel to it,” Roberts said. “That’s one of the things I love about this city.”

Roberts often strolls around Market Street and several other local shops to greet and visit business owners who are all within walking distance of Inglewood’s City Hall.

For a meal and a place to work in peace while also observing cars and pedestrians, Mutiara Mas is Roberts’ go-to spot – serving up authentic Asian halal cuisine with friendly smiles in a small restaurant on South La Brea Avenue.

Outside of strolling through Inglewood and indulging in the various types of food available, Roberts, 40, is currently dating and aspires to have kids in the future.

During his free time, Roberts enjoys watching movies, television and reading. The first thing Roberts does every morning is read the news alongside a glass of water. He reads articles from several different outlets to gain “a broader perspective” on everything happening in the world.

Roberts also reads a lot of books including “Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe” by Jeezy, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” by James Comey and “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.

In 2019, Roberts published his own book, marrying his passion for his work with his love for traveling, titled “From the Cubicle to the World: The Definitive Travel Book for Busy Professionals Who Want to Explore the World.”

“It’s really just a combination of various things I’ve been writing for a couple years. Whenever I’m on a plane or a train or wherever, I tried to just write a little bit here and there, journaling my thoughts on various subjects,” Roberts said.

Roberts has traveled to 99 total countries and is still undecided on what the 100th country will be. Roberts said he loves traveling to meet new people and experience different cultures, biology and food.

Music is also a staple of both Roberts’ life and the city of Inglewood. As he continues strolling through Market Street, live music can be heard on both sides of the street as the sound of beating drums and a saxophone fills the air.

Inglewood is also home to several well-known musicians including Swae Lee, Becky G and Omarion.

Roberts is a fan of all genres in music but credits hip-hop as the main genre that keeps him focused. Roberts’ favorite hip-hop artists are Tupac, Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z, Nas and André 3000.

“One thing I’ll say about hip-hop is that it gets me in the zone whether it be the beat or the way somebody’s flow drops on the beat. It just gets me going and feeling like I’m about to hit the day hard,” Roberts said. “Music is the backdrop of everything we have going on.”

From food to coffee, clothes, beauty salons, music, entertainment and more, Inglewood not only has those basic needs covered but to Roberts, it is a hidden gem within Los Angeles County that is always bustling with options and activities.

“There’s hope, there’s opportunity, there’s industry and I just think we’re a crown jewel in the great county of Los Angeles because there’s so much happening here within these nine square miles,” Roberts said.

As Roberts himself has gained a lot of prominence, so has the city of Inglewood. However, the city has changed a lot over the past 100 years to become known as “The City of Champions,” that it is today.

Inglewood was a predominantly White neighborhood in the 1920s with small redlined districts designated to Black, Hispanic, Latino, Asian and other ethnic family groups. By the 1980s and today, Black and Hispanic people make up the majority of Inglewood’s population according to the 2022 United States Census Bureau.

Over the last decade, Inglewood’s residents have been heavily impacted by gentrification. High-end establishments and venues built around the city have raised the cost of living, putting Black and Hispanic neighborhoods at risk.

The most recent projects of the SoFi Stadium and the upcoming L.A. Metro K-Line Station — a project that Roberts himself oversees, are two projects that can improve Inglewood’s economy while also putting residents at risk for increased cost of living.

Roberts said his goal for Inglewood is to help improve the health of the city while also retaining its residents and communities.

“I want to see as many amenities come to the city but I also want the people who have been here to be able to enjoy that as well,” Roberts said. “We have to have a truthful and honest conversation about the distribution of wealth in this country because there are some glaring discrepancies there…but I think for cities like Inglewood, rent control is a start.”

Roberts said Inglewood enacted a rent control measure in 2019, setting a 5% capacity limit on yearly rent increases from landlords. Roberts believes the measure is a “step in the right direction” because it holds property owners more accountable.

From working in public transportation and government positions, Roberts can use his experience and connections in conjunction with each other with Inglewood being the center point tethering his responsibilities together.

“I can leverage a lot of the communal relationships that I have all throughout the city and leverage what I’m doing in these roles and the connections I have all throughout [Inglewood] to bring them all together,” Roberts said.

One of Robert’s biggest goals as a member of El Camino College’s Board of Trustees is to strengthen the bridges connecting the city of Inglewood, Inglewood Unified School District and El Camino College.

“We have all this industry here in Inglewood. I want folks from the city to be able to go to a place like El Camino, get a certificate, get a degree and then come back to So-Fi or The Forum to become a sound engineer or something along those lines,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ position on the Board of Trustees became open due to the death of former Board of Trustees President Kenneth Brown on March 23.

Trisha Murakawa, the current Board of Trustees president, said she was an ally and a supporter of Brown’s and his sudden death was shocking.

“It was devastating and unexpected, even now, It’s still very emotional to me and I still think about him. I miss him,” Murakawa said.

The El Camino College Board of Trustees attended October’s Association of Community College Trustees conference in Las Vegas. Brown had started running for the organization’s board at the start of the year and Murakawa said attending the event was another reminder to her that Brown was no longer here.

When Brown died, Murakawa had to step in as interim president of the Board of Trustees to work on filling the vacant Area One seat.

“[The board] had to have a meeting to talk about what the timing was going to be, what the process was going to be and when we were going to do this,” Murakwa said. “I had to preside over that meeting as the vice president fulfilling the role of the president and that meeting was emotional but we did it.”

The Board of Trustees had 60 days from the day Brown died on March 23 to fill the vacant seat.

After a special board meeting on May 12, Roberts was selected as the newest trustee to take over Area 1. He was sworn into his new position by Inglewood Mayor James Butts on May 15.

“We selected trustee Brett Roberts and he’s been a great addition to El Camino. I know that [Brown] would really appreciate and respect the work that trustee Roberts is doing because he doesn’t just call it in, he goes to El Camino events, he’s highly engaged, he talks to people and he goes out to represent El Camino in a very positive way,” Murakawa said.

Roberts did not personally know Brown but he knew of his many accolades and his character. Roberts said he has “big shoes to fill” when it comes to the legacy Brown left behind and what he meant to the El Camino College community.

“I didn’t know him but I know he did some great things and in this role, I just want to build on the things that he did and seek out ways to forge new paths as well,” Roberts said.

Other goals that Roberts has as an El Camino trustee are to complete the student housing project, increase enrollment and increase faculty wages.

“I want to remove any barrier that’s possibly out there because the knowledge that you get from a community college allows you the opportunity to pursue the dreams that you might have,” Roberts said.

The community college system allowed Roberts a second chance at achieving his dreams as well.

Growing up with his mother and grandmother, Roberts said he often struggled to focus on his educational responsibilities, opting instead to set his priorities on partying and being the cool kid on campus at Westchester High School – now known as Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets.

Eventually, Roberts had to attend a continuation school for a semester to ensure he graduated on time with his high school diploma.

“I had to really get it together because I felt that I could do better than what I’m doing right now,” Roberts said. “I was not being the person or student that I should’ve been. I knew it was within me and I was able to revert and get back on track.”

While he didn’t get to live out the high school experience that he would’ve wanted, Roberts felt that he was given a second chance and a clean slate by enrolling in Santa Monica College in 2000.

Community college gave Roberts a renewed drive for his educational journey. Using numerous resources made available to him, Roberts made the best out of every opportunity given to him and remained diligent throughout his time at Santa Monica College.

“Santa Monica College afforded me the opportunity to learn how to become a better student,” Roberts said. “I was able to work on my studying skills and I was able to have a network of folks to make sure that I got to the next destination.”

Afterward, he attended Pepperdine University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and public relations, followed by a master’s degree in marketing from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in 2007.

After completing graduate school, Roberts said he felt unsatisfied working for many years as he moved through various temporary positions, including one at Home Depot where he unloaded goods from a freight truck.

“Come hell or high water, we’re going to get through and we’ll do whatever we got to do,” Roberts said. “It’s honorable work and even with this MBA from Pepperdine, if that means I got to eat some humble pie and slam freight until we get to where we got to go, I’m rolling up my sleeves and slamming freight.”

While floating between different temporary jobs, Roberts decided to get involved in politics by volunteering for the Democratic Party and becoming a field organizer during former U.S. President Barrack Obama’s original campaign run between 2007 and 2008.

“I was not a fan of President [George] Bush, I was against the Iraq War, I don’t like what’s happening overseas in terms of our foreign policy,” Roberts said. “As an 18-year-old, I was like, how can I counter that? Well, let me get active with the opposition party, the Democratic Party.”

As a field organizer for Obama’s campaign, Roberts arranged for Democrats to get on buses to Nevada and Arizona where they would knock on residential doors to get people to vote. Roberts also helped with fundraising and phone banking to engage with more voters.

Roberts then used his newfound political knowledge to run as a delegate for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and won in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Roberts currently serves as the California Democratic Party’s alternate delegate for the 61st State Assembly District.

“I’m a delegate to the California Democratic Party and that was an appointment made by Assemblymember Tina Mckinnor. I serve as her delegate and I go to the [Democratic] conventions and we’ll vote on the endorsement of certain candidates running for office,” Roberts said.

Currently, Roberts said “there’s a good chance” that he will run as a DNC delegate for the 2024 election year depending on the candidates, but his primary focus is on his current campaign run for a full four-year term as an El Camino College Board of Trustee starting in November 2024.

Roberts’ family legacy is forever synonymous with politics as his great grandfather, Charlie Roberts, was one of three petitioners in the Texas Supreme Court Case of Terry v. Adams in 1953.

Petitioners Charlie Roberts, John Terry and Arizona Fleming sued Texas County for race-based discrimination due to their exclusion from White-only pre-primary elections.

Terry v. Adams was the final case on voter rights in Texas. The petitioners won their case the same year – allowing equal rights when it comes to voting in the state of Texas.

Roberts’ eyes become cloudy with tears as he recounts his great-grandfather’s legacy and said he wants his name to stand for something like Charlie Roberts’ did.

“The reason I reference [Charlie Roberts] is because when I see his name on a street sign out in Texas or when I read about my great grandfather online, it’s because he did something,” Roberts said. “When I see my name on something or my image, that has to mean something, otherwise, it means nothing.

Roberts continues to walk proudly through Inglewood, greeting local residents, shop owners and taking every opportunity to talk with them about the city of Inglewood and El Camino College. During his walk, Roberts makes an important stop at Antojitos Martin restaurant on East Florence Avenue in Inglewood.

Owned and operated by Inglewood native Christian Martin and his family, Antojitos Martin is just one of six restaurants his family owns in the city. Martin is a longtime friend of Roberts. Roberts walks in and they greet each other with smiles and hugs.

Martin and Roberts have a mutual respect as they both admire each other’s work ethic and they both want to invest in Inglewood’s youth. As a new father to a newborn son, Martin has a newfound perspective on what it means to support kids.

“Far beyond growing the business, I also feel you have a responsibility to give back. That’s why I was so happy you saw the message I sent you [Roberts] because you have always been a guy that is there to help and I know you’re going to help a lot of people and a lot of kids in the process of what you’re doing,” Martin said. “And I feel like that’s the most rewarding thing.”

Through his business, Martin was able to give four students from Inglewood $1,500 in scholarships each.

For Inglewood’s students, Martin felt that El Camino’s presence was not felt enough throughout the city but Roberts is actively working on making sure the college is present.

“We’re looking to change that. There’s some small connection with Inglewood High playing their football games at [Murdock] Stadium but I want to make El Camino more prominent throughout the city of Inglewood,” Roberts said. “We have our community engagement teams from El Camino setting up a booth and a kiosk at some of these events. I’m out and about, when you see me walking around the city, I’m usually wearing some El Camino stuff.”

Both Martin and Roberts see El Camino College as a good alternative for current and former Inglewood students who may not know what to do after high school or for those who can’t afford to go to four-year universities.

“You’re the perfect guy to create that bridge and let our students know they can get to El Camino. I want to help out because I know Brett, you’re going to help these kids out,” Martin said. “They can come back home, make an impact in Inglewood and Inglewood grows.”

As Roberts leaves, Martin makes sure he walks out with a fresh bowl of fruit and green juice mixed with cucumber, celery, apples and spinach.

Across the street from Antojitos Martin is the Downtown Inglewood K-Line Station, a project stretching 6 miles across L.A. County connecting people from LAX airport to seven essential destinations throughout the county.

Above the Downtown Inglewood Station is a mural of Roberts beside his mother and several other Inglewood residents.

“When I say I’m a part of this Inglewood fabric, I’m locked in here. That’s actually my mom right here [left] so I always look at that as my mom having my back.”

Roberts said when he looks up at the mural painting of him, he feels gratitude to the city of Inglewood and appreciates the way his life has centered around it.

“I’m a firm believer in what’s for you will be for you and I never thought I would move to Inglewood, become an Inglewood trustee but all the stars aligned in a way where I found myself in an apartment here, bought a home here, my work has largely been here,” Roberts said. “All of this stuff has manifested itself for me here. It feels like my purpose here is to be here in this city and make it the best place that I can.”