Dear Champion of The Hidden Genius Project,

It probably goes without saying, but business has just about picked up. In 2023, we celebrated the return of our first full year of in-person programming and activities since 2019. This stirred up within me a great deal of gratitude, and served as a reminder to appreciate every opportunity to be in creative spaces.

Speaking of creative spaces, in 2023, we officially opened our Ubuntu Center within our Oakland Headquarters building, providing for the first time in our history a space for young people to drop in, innovate, and tinker on their own time. The new center also allows us to offer our own parallel programming to the general public—also a first for our organization. Inspired by this landmark moment, we began to generate new partnerships that allowed us to deliver programming at multiple community technology centers beyond our own.

Acknowledging the collective efforts of our Geniuses throughout our 15-month Intensive Immersion Program, we were excited to host End of Summer Celebrations  across all five markets we served last year—Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and celebrating the completion of their first cohort, our inaugural Detroit location. The brotherhood among these young men absolutely transcended geographic boundaries, which truly warmed the heart and inspired us to keep going.

Of course, we established cohorts in two new communities: Atlanta and Chicago. We are thrilled to be able to link arms with the myriad partners who have been doing impactful work with young people for generations. What’s more, we continue to build meaningful partnerships that increasingly deepen impact for our young people every day.

For those who have been following our work for a few years—since 2018 to be exact—you might recall when we began globetrotting with abandon. Of course, the global pandemic took all the wind out of our sails, and we were grounded for the ensuing four years. Thus, you can imagine how thrilled we were to return to London in October 2023, to deliver multiple Tech Slams and Catalyst Programs, in partnership with Chelsea FC Foundation, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, Colorintech, Oakland Natives Give Back, and TEAM, Inc. Over the course of the week, we engaged over 200 young people, with our brilliant Alumni Youth Educators at the helm. We pray that we have re-initiated a new era of–healthy and uninterrupted–international collaboration.

Ever-ready to meet an opportunity, we are excited to be launching our Baltimore site in 2024. It is yet another community marked by brilliance, innovation, and limitless potential, especially among our young people. We are appreciative of the various partners and advisors who have guided us to this point.

We are grateful to every single individual who counts themselves among our supporters, advocates, beneficiaries, donors, champions, and/or believers in our work. You have been instrumental characters in our story, and we cannot wait for you to help us write our next chapters.

I hope you enjoy reviewing our 2023 Annual Report. Please feel free to share widely with your friends, colleagues, and loved ones.

With gratitude,
Brandon

Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
The Hidden Genius Project