Mingo “Ming” Roberts founded SportWorX Accelerator to help youth sports clubs communicate clearly with families and put AI to work on everyday tasks. He brings more than 20 years of experience in communications, learning design, and digital technology, along with firsthand experience as a coach, soccer dad, and youth sports leader.

At USAID’s Office of Digital Technology, Ming worked with the emerging technology team to turn complex topics, including AI, into training that staff could understand and apply. He designed practical exercises, facilitated workshops, and helped teams connect new tools to the work they were already doing. His broader digital development training reached more than 500 USAID staff worldwide. He also led internal communications for the office and teaches integrated marketing and social media strategy at George Washington University, where he explores how AI is changing the way teams plan and deliver their communications.

Ming started playing soccer at six. At Morehouse, he played club soccer and helped push for the program’s move to NCAA Division II, which was approved the year after he graduated. He still jokes that the timing spared him a fifth year, though he would’ve taken one more season. He went on to coach with Washington Soccer Club and D.C. Stoddert, lead soccer programming at DC SCORES, and train more than 160 coaches through America SCORES. He holds a U.S. Soccer D License and Grassroots 7v7 and 9v9 credentials, and serves on the DC SCORES board.

It was his daughter who brought him back to coaching. What started as showing up for her turned into a roulette back into the game and eventually led to SportWorX. He tells that story in When the Ground Disappears, Find the Ball.

Today, he brings those two parts of his life together at SportWorX: helping clubs build communication routines families can count on, and teaching staff to use AI for practical work like drafting parent updates and turning a last-minute schedule change into a clear message.