The Hidden Genius Project was founded in 2012 by five Black male entrepreneurs and technologists unnerved by the dramatic juxtaposition between the high unemployment of Black male youth and the plethora of career opportunities within the local technology sector. To address this challenge, they established a program to connect young Black males with the skills, mentors, and experiences that they need to become high-performing entrepreneurs and technologists in a 21st century global economy.

The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.

Our INTENSIVE IMMERSION PROGRAM is a holistic 15-month mentorship experience that provides computer science, software development, entrepreneurship and leadership training for Black male youth. Following an application, interview and acceptance into the program, students receive more than 800 hours of mentorship and training.

“The Hidden Genius Project has invested time, energy, knowledge, love, and resources in me like no other person, program, or friend ever has and that is what motivates me to do better and make something of myself and give back to my community to help other[s] like myself.” – Anonymous Hidden Genius

62
# of Richmond Immersion Students
129
Total Intensive Immersion Program Students
67
# of Oakland Immersion Students

“A rising tide lifts all boats…when we can take care of and protect our Black male youth, everybody stands to benefit. They’re protectors by nature, they’re creators by nature, but they need opportunities and love.” – Akeem Brown, Programs Director

Click HERE to read stories from Hidden Genius Alumni who completed our Intensive Immersion Program.

YOUTH EDUCATOR PROGRAM trains students that graduate from our Intensive Immersion Program, in partnership with East Oakland Youth Development Center, to support the next generation of Hidden Geniuses and serve as brand ambassadors and educators – delivering content to the greater community (school-age through senior citizens).

CATALYST PROGRAMS are free single- and multi-day introductory technical workshops and exposure opportunities, led by our Youth Educators, for middle and high school youth of color, including STEM festivals, Tech Slams, and our annual Brothers Code event.

362
Youth Educator Program Participants
1853
Catalyst Program Participants

Click the markers on the map below to see the impact our Youth Educator and Catalyst Programs
have had on local, national and international communities.

GENIUS OVERSEAS

INTERNATIONAL TECH SLAM

We hosted our second international Catalyst Program experience in London, and for the first time in Johannesburg, South Africa. Throughout this inspiring experience, our team of 10 Hidden Genius Alumni Youth Educators exposed over 700 students to tech career pathways with the support of program partners including Team Inc., Oakland Natives Give Back, Chelsea Football Club Foundation, LEAP Science and Maths Schools, Colorintech, West Ham United Foundation, and a host of collaborators.

2,344

TOTAL STUDENTS SERVED IN 2019

TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS SERVED SINCE 2012

6,400

Through December 31, 2019

103,200

MENTORSHIP HOURS IN 2019

TECHNOLOGY CREATION  •  ENTREPRENEURSHIP  •  LEADERSHIP

310,400+

TOTAL MENTORSHIP HOURS SINCE 2012

In 2019, over 15 Hidden Genius Alumni have been trained and deployed as Youth Educators, leading to 56 in total,
who then facilitate workshops for our Intensive Immersion and Catalyst Programs.

STUDENT OUTCOMES SINCE 2012

STUDENT RETENTION RATE

For all Intensive
Immersion Program Geniuses

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE

Geniuses eligible to
graduate high school

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION MATRICULATION

Of age Geniuses that
have graduated high school

COLLEGE ADVISING AND HIGHER EDUCATION

In partnership with the Destination College Advising Corps (DCAC) at UC Berkeley, The Hidden Genius Project received assistance from a full-time College Advisor in 2019 to provide our students with comprehensive services related to college success plans, financial aid, scholarship opportunities, test preparation, and frequent advising.

28

SENIORS WHO WERE PROVIDED A 1-ON-1 SESSION

30

SENIORS WHO REGISTERED FOR SAT/ACT TESTS

28

SENIORS WHO SUBMITTED THEIR FAFSA/CADAA

26

SENIORS' FAMILIES WHO MET WITH ADVISER AT LEAST ONCE

24

SENIORS WHO RECEIVED FINANCIAL AID ASSISTANCE

22

SENIORS WHO SUBMITTED 1+ COLLEGE APPLICATION(S)

POWERED BY COMMUNITY

150

NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS IN 2019

The following local restaurants have generously stepped up to the plate in 2019 to provide meals for our Geniuses:

A Girl Named Pinky  •  Bakesale Betty  •  Big Apple Cafe  •  Catered To You  •  Chick-Fil-A  •  Everett and Jones  •  Kinder’s  •  Ramano’s Macaroni Grill  •  Pinx Catering  •  Wingstop  •   Zachary’s Pizza


Their support not only helped us by offsetting costs that can go back into our program, it also provided the fuel our Geniuses need to stay focused during our Intensive Immersion Program.

19,250

Total number of meals provided

2019 COMMUNITY EVENTS

10

FULL TIME STAFF MEMBERS

56

YOUTH EDUCATORS HIRED

547

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HOURS

GENIUS AT AFROTECH

From winning first place in the first-ever Youth Pitch Competition to leading a panel discussion about Design Thinking, our Geniuses shined on multiple fronts at AfroTech, the nation’s largest black technology conference.

 

“AfroTech was a great experience. It was unreal seeing so many black faces come together to define the next generation of black technology.” – Kyron Loggins, OAK4 Hidden Genius Alum

UBER CAREER PREP PROGRAM

After a breakthrough year in 2018, Uber

expanded their 2019 cohort to 30 college
engineering students of color from around
the nation and completed the program.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Increased our internal capacity by onboarding our tenth full-time staff member to support Richmond programming and two auxiliary team members to deliver college prep and holistic services.

GENIUS IN CLEVELAND

In partnership with the Python Foundation, our

team of Geniuses attended the PyCon Conference in Cleveland, Ohio
to network with Python experts and facilitate tech workshops.

I AM TECH – LOS ANGELES

Kicked off Computer Science Education Week by partnering with Critical Design and Gaming School (C:\DAGS), UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) and TEAM, Inc. to host I Am Tech in West Los Angeles.

2K

Academic Institute of Excellence (AIE)

Affirm

Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Office of Keith Carson

Alameda County Health Pathways Partnership (ACHPP, a division of Alameda County Health Care Services Agency [HCSA])

Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center

Amazon Web Services

Andreessen Horowitz

Aon

Autodesk

Augustus F. Hawkins High School (Critical Design and Gaming School)

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

BASE Ventures

Bay Celebrations

Black Girls Code

Bridge Housing

Bugcrowd

California College of the Arts

Capital G

Care Services Agency (HCSA)

Casey Family Programs

City of Oakland (OFCY)

Claremont Middle School

Chelsea FC Foundation

CodeHS

Colorintech

College Education Prep

Community Financial Resources

Construct Video Games

Corporately

Cre8ation Ventures Accelerator

David E. Glover Education and Technology Center

Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Dewey Academy

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

East Bay College Fund

East Oakland Youth Development Center

ECMC

Electronic Arts

Elevator Works

Facebook

Fam 1st Family Foundation

GAP

Golden State Warriors // Warriors Foundation

Golden State Warriors // Community Team 

Google (Trust and Safety)

Head Royce School

Independent Living Program (ILP)

Instagram

Institute of Design at Stanford

Kaiser Permanente

Kapor Center for Social Impact

Kick n’ It

KIPP King Collegiate High School

Know Your Rights Camp

Last.fm

LEAP Science and Maths School

Lorenzo Alexander ACES Foundation

Manticore Games

Microsoft

Mentoring in Medical Sciences (MIMS)

Merritt College

Merritt College Cyber Security Program

MetWest High School

Oakland High School

Oakland Natives Give Back

Oakland Unified School District

Oakland Technology Exchange

Playstation

New Venture Fund

Oakland A’s Foundation

Positive Communication, Practices Rites of Passage Program

Python Foundation

Reddit

Richmond Police Activities League (RPAL)

Robert Clack School

RYSE Youth Center

Samsung

Sony Interactive Entertainment

SPAAT (Student Programming for Academic & Athletic Transitioning)

Sphero

Splunk

St. Mary’s College

Stripe

Tech Exchange

Tech Exposure and Access through Mentoring (TEAM)

The Brotherhood of Elders Network

TRUChallenge

Twitch

Uber

Ubuntu Villages

United Negro College Fund

United State Military Academy

University of California, Berkeley (Graduate School of Education)

University of California Office of the President

University of California, Los Angeles (Center for the Transformation of Schools)

UPS

Up to Code Academy

Upward Bound

Visa

West Ham FC Foundation

Youth AID Nonprofit

Youth Empowerment Project

Youth Impact Hub

4505 Burgers & BBQ Restaurant

Akamai Foundation

Alameda County Board of Supervisors

All Stars Helping Kids Foundation

Amazon Web Services

The Andre Tyler Iguodala Living Trust

Anonymous

Aon

ASCEND BLO

AT&T

Berkeley Engineering

Blue Sheild of California

BridgeBank

The Brotherhood of Elders

The California Wellness Foundation

Capital One

CBS Interactive

Cisco Foundation

City of Oakland (OFCY)

The Clorox Company Foundation

Comcast Foundation

Community Bank of the Bay

CSAA Insurance Services (AAA)

DaVita

Dropbox

East Bay Community Foundation

eBay

Fairview Foundation

Fenwick and West

Ford Motor Company Fund

Freddie Mac

Fullerton Family Foundation

Futures Foundation

Goggio Family Foundation

Golden State Warriors Community Foundation

Google.org

Illinois #3 Foundation

Jacob Emmert Aronson Foundation

Jack and Jill of America Inc. – Oakland Chapter

Kaiser Permanente

Kapor Center

Koret Foundation

LeapFrog

Lorenzo Alexander ACES Foundation

Microsoft

MindBlown Labs

Miranda Lux Foundation

Oakland Athletics

Oakland Natives Give Back

Oakland Black Firefighters’ Association

Quest Foundation

Palayam Foundation

PayPal

PJS Consultants

Port of Oakland

Ron Brown Scholar Program

Salesforce

The San Francisco Foundation

San Francisco 49ers Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Splunk

Uber

User Testing Inc.

Union Bank

United Airlines

University of California Office of the President

Verizon Foundation

Visa Black Employee Resource Group

Walmart Foundation

Wells Fargo

Westly Foundation

Workday Foundation

Zachary’s Chicago Pizza

Aakanksha Pudipeddi

Adam & Julie Menter

Adam Berke

Adam Hale

Adrianna Alterman

Agus Pratama

Alex Elent

Alex Kingsley

Alexander Lehmann

Alexis Plair

Alice Penton

Allan George

Alli McKulla

Allison Bain

Allison Ottoboni

Althea Tabon

Alvaro Martinez Echevarria

Amy Helfant

Andre Vanier

Andrea Cousins

Andrea Phillips

Angela Hooks

Angelica Beard

Anne Keck

Anthony Byers

Anthony Turner

Antoinette Raines

Anwar Miller

Arianna Senteio

Ariel Devine

Art Parygin

Ashley Kim

Autumn Sullivan

Ayanna Reed

Ayinda Garza

Ayushi Samaddar

Bahij Austin

Barthelemy Menayas

Baylan Megino

Benjamin Chirlin

Beric Alleyne

Bette Johnsrud

Biff Clark

Blaine McFadden

Blaire Bender

Braden Powell

Brandi Simpson

Brandon Callendar

Brenda Martinez

Brian D. McGhee

Brian Evans

Brian Sonneborn

Brian Tuinstra

Briana Jeffery

Brittney Barmaki

Caleb Chacha

Calvary Rogers

Caroline Blitz

Catherine Barragan

Cecilia Montecillo

Cedric Brown

Chad J. Thomas

Charla Blackmon

Charles Couric

Charles H. Harris

Charles Hahn

Charlotte McGoldrick

Chase Hensel

Cherry Kedia

Chevronda Stafford

Chris Fetterolf

Chris Mooney

Christian Areas

Christina Davis

Christopher Lewis

Christopher Mooney

Courtney Williams

Crystal Cohen

Dalvin Sejour

Dan Polsby

Daniel Kessler

Daniel Lasman (In honor of LaPointe Family)

Daniel Levin and Naomi Andrews

Danielle Wikler

David Cremins

David Gainsboro

David Liem (In honor of Terry & Megan)

David Meyer

David Parrott

Deborah Neal

Delores Lemon

Denise Carey

Denzel Russell

Desiree Almendral

Dewayne Perry

Diana McHenry

Diana Scearce

Donyale V. John

Doris M. Victory

Dorothy Guy

Duane Wiley

Ed LaPerche

Elaine Leung

Eleanor Beaton

Ereika Stimley

Eric Bostic

Erin Sweeney

Ervin Mathew Jr.

Eva Smith

Ezra Kebrab

Fabiola Cazares

Fareedah Sabree

Fatima Alleyne

Felicia Jeffley

Frank E. Pare

Frank Oppong

Fred Norris Jr.

Frederic Descamps

Garfield Windross

Gaynelle Chase

Geetha Rajagopal

Geroge H. Brown

Gina Hodgson

Gopal Balasubramaniam

Gregory DAndrea

Hadiyah Mujhid

Halbert Au-Yeung

Halimah DeLaine Prado

Harry & Vivian Synder

Hector Salazar

Henry Canivel

Herbert & Lenore Griffin (In honor of Chandi A. Griffin)

Hesten Parrish

Hubert Humphrey

IgorLiskovets & Bianca Ling Fund

Jackson Cummings

Jackson Georges

Jacob Kaufman

James W. Jenkins

James White

Janan Crocker

Janine Mixon

Jason Young

Jayanth Iyengar

Jayveer Singh

Jeanae Jackson

Jessica Hallett

Johan Duramy

John Jones

John Ruzicka

John Zissimos

Jon Lesser

Jonathan Beauford

Joselyn Coogler

Joseph R Breen III

Julian Gutierrez Djanai

Julian Lin

Julie Cross

Julie Haniger

Juliette Benton

Justin Baumli

Justin Makeig

Kaila Tenedorio-Carty

Kanwarpal Dhaliwal

Kasandra White

Kat Karacozoff

Kate Hartley

Katherine Henrickson

Katherine Noson

Katherine Tong

Kathryn Brockbank

Kathy Bernart

Keeli Harris

Kelley Lemon

Kelli DesRochers

Kelly Garrett

Kenichi Takimoto

Kenneth Carthen

Kerah Davis

Kevin Dooley

Kevin Hogan

Kilimanjaro Robbs

Kimberly Aceves-Iniguez

Kimberly Seashore

Kimberly Simpson

Kiona Suttle

Koushik Ray

Kristin Drew

Kyle Biggs

Lachelle Porter-Ainer

Lance Escobar

Latalya Parrish

Latha Murugappan

Lauran and Jeffrey Weinmann

Layawonna Massey

Lenetta Gary

Leola Spencer

Leslie D. Littleton

Linda Mendonsa

Linda Nyberg

Lionel V. Alleyne

Lisa Macalka

Lucas Moller

Lucas Seifu

Lynn H. Dodd

Madison Moyd

Makinde Adeagbo

Mandala Pham

Manny Ojobaro

Marc Cull

Marcus Savage

Maria Jones

Marian Greenfield

Marilyn M. Thomas

Mark Hughes

Marley Padgett

Mathew Yohannan

Matthew Ichinose

Maurice C. Johnson Jr.

Maurice D Golding

Maurice Johnson

Megan Holston-Alexander

Melanie Shaver

Melissa Andrews

Melissa Oliver

Melissa Wheeler

Merideth Marschak

Michael & Adriane Armstrong

Michael Frandsen

Michael Mahaley

Michael Pearson

Michael Wright

Michel Gelobter

Miriam Benford

Mitchell Weisel

Miya E Hayes

Modupe Congleton

Nanette Blum

Natalie Orr

Natasha McKinley

Nathan Gillespie

Nazeem Hasan

Nia S. Garner

Nia Ujamaa

Nikko Merlander

Niko R Wilson

Okim-Osi Nsor

Olabisi Clinton

Osborne Hardison III

Pamela Ulmer

Parth Chopra

Patrice Cappello

Patrick Calleo

Patsy Wilson

Pei Ding

Peter Brown

Peter Mulle

Porsche D. Brownridge

Precious Stroud

Preeti Ray

Quinton Sankofa

Rachel A. Simpson

Rachel Yang

Rahael Seifu

Rajan Perkash

Ravi Parthasarathy

Ravon Taylor III

Rea Panares

Rebecca Richkus

Rebecca Ward

Relonda T. McGhee

Richard Scott

Richard Widmann

Robert Bryant

Robert Cook

Robert Stewart

Robert Stone

Robert Tassy

Robert Wilkins

Roderick Richardson

Rose Broome

Roxanne McFadden

Rune Stromsness

Ryan Spies

Saleemah Alhark

Sandra Hamp

Sara Rudder

Sean O. Ledree

Shamar Edwards

Shana Simmons

Sharon & Phillip Marson

Sheila Grace Singh

Sheryl Walton

Sheyanne Byrd

Sia Charonis

Smith Garric

Sophia Garcia

Srinivas Singampalli

Stephanie Johnson

Stephanie Taylor

Stephen Rucker (In honor of Ms. Vanessa Raabe)

Stephen Spiker

Steven Forman

Supreet Chinnan

Tamar Cohen

Tanya Schillage

Tenika Small

Teresa W. Thornton

Theodore Ford

Thomas Cator

Thomas Lichtenberg

Thurman V White Jr.
Tiffany Price

Tiffany Shumate

Timothy McDowell

Tracy Perron

Tristan Nunnally

Valia Koleva

Victoria Swepson (On behalf of Zeke Swepson)

Vincent T. Martin

Vivian Amachree

WarriorCreditRepair LLC.

WealthFit

Wendy Victory

Wilbert Freeman

William Chavez-Sales

William Muits

Yvonne D. Eashman-Sewell

Zaria Valentine

“So, the greatest need for our Geniuses over time . . . is obviously in the broad sense
continued support over the long term.” – Anonymous Hidden Genius Guardian

As our opportunities to impact young lives continue to blossom,
so must grow the pool of resources we need to propel us forward.

HELP OUR GENIUSES CONTINUE TO SHINE
THEIR LIGHT BRIGHTER AND FARTHER