Portia Roberson is leaving her role with the city of Detroit to become the new CEO of Focus: Hope.

She succeeds interim CEO and board member Vernice Davis Anthony, who stepped in after former CEO Jason Lee left in January to lead the Detroit Employment Solutions Corp.'s Grow Detroit's Young Talent program.

Roberson, 48, will join Focus: Hope by mid-September.

A native Detroiter who graduated from Cass Technical High School, Roberson is respected for her ties to the community and work to benefit it, as well as her ability to work well with the business sector, Focus: Hope said in a news release.

She's served as group executive of the Detroit Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department for the past four years, working to ensure all major economic development projects subsidized by the city's taxpayers employ Detroiters for at least 51 percent of the work hours on the project.

In March, she led enforcement of that requirement in connection with the Little Caesars Arena project. Detroiters performed one-quarter of the work hours in construction of the $863 arena. Contractors were fined more than $5.2 million for failing to meet the work rule.

Roberson has also led the charge on how Michigan and Detroit-based businesses can work together to enhance local employment.

Prior to her position with the city, she served as corporation counsel for the city of Detroit and director of intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for the U.S. Department of Justice under former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Roberson's commitment and compassion for the mission of Focus: HOPE as well as her proven track record in bringing jobs to the city were key to her selection as the nonprofit's new CEO, said Focus: Hope Chairman Jay Craig, who is CEO of Meritor Inc., in a statement.

Robertson's "history and commitment to the mission of Focus Hope speaks for itself," Anthony said in an email.

"She is the perfect leader to lead Focus Hope well into the future."

Roberson serves as an analyst on WDIV-Channel 4's "Flashpoint" and Court TV (now known a truTV.) She serves on the boards of the Michigan Political History Society, Habitat for Humanity Detroit, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Detroit senior apartment complex Delta Manor.

A member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Wolverine Bar Association, she holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Michigan and a juris doctor degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Roberson joins Focus: Hope as it's retooling following years of financial struggles.

In July, its board adopted a new strategic plan that will take the nonprofit, which was formed in the aftermath of the 1967 uprising in Detroit, back to its community advocacy roots.

The nonprofit is also expanding career readiness initiatives to prepare Detroiters for employer-led workforce-training programs.

It's listed several of its buildings for sale so it can explore revenue potential and the possibility of bringing new employers and training opportunities to its campus and is also looking at lease deals.

Focus: Hope's board and interim CEO have done a lot of work over the past eight months to "right the ship," Roberson said, noting that even during its struggles, the nonprofit's brand has always remained solid.

"I'm hoping to build on some of those successes ... paying respect to the history but at the same marrying it to the people and the needs of 2018," she said.

Roberson sees her new role at Focus: Hope as a continuation of the work she's been doing with the city, where her efforts have been centered around compliance and moving the money collected for noncompliance to the city's workforce development fund to train people for jobs.

At Focus: Hope, "Now I'm on the other side where we're talking about job training and employment," she said.

Focus: Hope was well-known for its workforce development programs in the past, Roberson said.

"I see this as an opportunity to bring it back to its prominence" and ensure Detroiters and even people from the surrounding community have access to jobs, she said.