The Hidden Genius Project Youth Tech Program Expands to Los Angeles Following Success in Oakland and Richmond

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following impact statement is from Kayla Mason, Los Angeles Site Director and Brandon Nicholson, Executive Director:

Twenty years ago, five Black male technologists discovered their genius in high school as Ron Brown Scholars. After college, they joined forces to launch The Hidden Genius Project in Oakland and Richmond, California which since 2012 has supported nearly 7,000 young leaders worldwide. Like Ron Brown Scholars, our Geniuses are building a lifelong network to leverage their collective power to transform their lives and communities.

It is with great excitement that we announce The Hidden Genius Project's commitment to the ongoing struggle for Black liberation is now operating in Los Angeles.

Despite the uncertain terrain of navigating a global pandemic and civil unrest over state violence, The Hidden Genius Project is equipping young people with technology, business, and leadership skills they can leverage to make that liberation a reality.

We recently expanded our work—including our Intensive Immersion Program—from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and virtually launched our inaugural cohort last month. We are committed to building partnerships with a broad array of community stakeholders in LA (including families, community leaders, educators, etc.), meet local creatives and entrepreneurs grounded in local ownership, and work with storytellers to elevate the voices of our Los Angeles Geniuses.

Before we arrived at The Hidden Genius Project, our Los Angeles team worked in education reform targeted at improving the quality of life for young people of color. We recognized that systemic inequities and false narratives perpetuated the perception of Black communities and young Black men. Through our work today, we are excited to be a part of LA's caring and effective network of organizations and people who believe we all stand to benefit from the empowerment of those of us who have most acutely suffered from opportunity inaccessibility.

Our LA team's backgrounds in school education reform, program evaluation, grassroots organizing, and holistic youth development has prepared us to lead this work to empower our young people. More significantly, our entire team at The Hidden Genius Project is driven by an unflinching belief in our young people, their potential, and their ability not only to achieve their dreams, but to lead us to achieve ours. Finally, we fully believe in our work as a strategy rooted in targeted universalism: that the energy we pour into our Black male youth continually radiates to have a positive impact on our society more broadly.

We are excited to join a dynamic Los Angeles ecosystem of community leaders, and we invite you to be a part of our story to build this work together.

Visit hiddengeniusproject.org/LosAngeles to find out how.

In Partnership,

SOURCE The Hidden Genius Project