Dear Friends,

It seems not long ago (it was actually Fall 2018) that I was writing a letter of introduction to our 2017 Annual Report. Now, one of the most exciting by-products of our tremendous evolution each year has been the growth in our capacity to aggregate data and tell stories about our work on with greater frequency and regularity. Thus, it is my pleasure to present to you our Annual Report for 2018, which proved to be a banner year for The Hidden Genius Project, as well as our numerous community partners.

In examining the last several years of The Hidden Genius Project’s history, one might reasonably conclude that every year is a “banner year,” marked by immense growth and/or a dynamic slate of accomplishments. For that reason, I can only imagine that the opening lines in ensuing Annual Reports could grow ever-tougher to make compelling. With that said, 2018 produced some major developments, firsts, and exciting experiences for our young people (as well as the adults working tirelessly to support them).

In 2017, we launched our first-ever site expansion of our Intensive Immersion Program to Richmond, California, in partnership with the RYSE Youth Center. We welcomed 15 young men to RICH1, our inaugural cohort in that city, and in August 2018, 15 young men completed the program. Three weeks later, the eldest member of RICH1, Cameron Leonard, attended his first class at California State University-Dominguez Hills (by contrast, a week before, the youngest member of the cohort entered his first year of high school). We are incredibly proud of this group and all they continue to accomplish.

Whereas 2017 was about local growth, in many ways 2018 was the year of the road show. Throughout the year, we delivered programming for young people of color in New Orleans, LA; Los Angeles, CA; Buffalo, NY; Miami, FL, and London, England. Partners for these programs included the Lorenzo Alexander ACES Foundation, The Belle Center, Kaiser Permanente, Crenshaw Family YMCA, Google, United Airlines, Oakland Natives Give Back, Know Your Rights Camp (established by Colin Kaepernick), and Chelsea Football Club. Through this dynamic array of events, we learned that young people across the country (as well as the Atlantic Ocean) possess vast potential, and require access and support to reveal their capabilities. Needless to say, we felt extremely grateful to have so many fantastic partners with whom to build.

We continued with our Youth Educator work this year, growing the number of Immersion Program alumni trained to facilitate youth programming for peers and younger youth. Through our partnership with East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC), we have now trained over 45 of our alumni. This is timely, as 2018 saw a record number of community partnership contracts wherein our young people led programming for middle and elementary school youth in their communities (across five sites during the summer, and beyond). All told, our alumni Youth Educators accounted for over 1,000 young people served in 2018 alone.

We built out our internal capacity by onboarding new team members in areas of finance and operations, communications, and our strategic initiatives to manage alumni, volunteers, and strategic partnerships. The result was unprecedented numbers of volunteers and alumni activities, and execution of even healthier operations, which included completion of our first-ever financial audit (of the 2017 year). In a people-centered space, it goes without saying that our people are The Hidden Genius Project’s greatest assets.

While many things change every year, what will never change is our deep appreciation for our young people and our seemingly infinite supporters and advocates. We look forward to building many more accomplishments together with our community.

Thank you,
Brandon

Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Founding Executive Director
The Hidden Genius Project