By: CSForAll
Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
CSforALL Member and active participant, The Hidden Genius Project, a national non-profit driven by a deep belief in the potential of Black male youth and a passion for creating a more equitable tech landscape, is familiar with CSforALL’s approach to creating positive system change for its members and the wider computer science education community.
Specifically, this national organization has been a CSforALL Member for six years, a 2023 Commitment Maker, and a participant in the CSforALL Summit. They are also involved in CSforALL’s newest ecosystem program, the Accelerator, designed to help accelerate community-driven action in support of CS education. The Hidden Genius Project in Oakland serves as the out-of-school-time provider working in collaboration with Oakland Unified School District and Team4Tech, another non-profit in the Oakland area. Together, these organizations make up the Oakland Accelerator Community Team and work collaboratively to ensure a high-quality computer science education for K-12 students in the community.
Below learn about how The Hidden Genius Project’s intensive 15-month Immersion Program is expanding across multiple cities, driven by a youth-centric approach that delivers impactful results. As they build a future where technology reflects the full diversity of our world, they also face challenges that need to be addressed.
IMMERSIVE TECH LEARNING
Students enrolled in The Hidden Genius Project’s 15-month, 800-hour Immersion Program are called “Geniuses,” and are mentored in leadership and personal growth, entrepreneurship, computer science, and career development skills. This authentic, holistic approach to empowering Black male youth is reflected through their “Genius Lab” a computer science curriculum platform designed by their student alumni who have graduated from the program, many of whom go on to join The Hidden Genius Project as mentors and leaders themselves.
By utilizing a curriculum created and designed for youth of color, The Hidden Genius Project ensures cultural relevance and engagement when working with students in their program and in the community. Additionally, by leveraging their active community involvement, The Hidden Genius Projects brings in mentors from partners like Autodesk, Scratch, CodeHS, and Comcast NBCUniversal to educate their students on the necessary real-world skills for future CS-based roles, while simultaneously fostering network connections and creating pathways for future success.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Working at the intersection of inclusive CS education and Black male youth leadership development, and an expanding national nonprofit is not without challenges, or growth opportunities. Part of what makes the The Hidden Genius Project so unique is how so many of the graduated “Geniuses” want to give back to the organization and help continue to inspire Black male youth, many of whom may be brothers, cousins, or other relatives and family friends. This empowers The Hidden Genius Project to scale with authenticity; when considering a new city for expansion, the nonprofit does not use a “cookie cutter” approach, but rather treat each city and community as an individual ecosystem with their own unique needs and structures in place. The team spends substantial time carefully planning and understanding a potential community, listening to their leaders, families, students, and community members before starting a program.
This targeted, intentional scaling and growth requires considerable funding, increased staffing, enterprise platforms, and access to comprehensive resources to ensure consistency and excellent standards are met. As with many growing nonprofits, these are crucial hurdles to overcome with the expansion of The Hidden Genius Project’s mission, programs, and impact.
Perhaps the most significant opportunity for The Hidden Genius Project to address: the perception of the general public in regards to Black male youth, especially in S.T.E.A.M based career spaces. Negative stereotypes and narratives persist, and The Hidden Genius Project works to combat those through the message of empowering Black boys and youth men, revealing their potential, and leveraging their innate talents and skills to help reshape the landscape of CS and tech career spaces.
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The team at The Hidden Genius Project is driven by a deep belief in the potential of young people of color, especially Black male youth, and a passion for creating a more equitable tech landscape. Their personal experiences highlight the importance of representation, mentorship, and believing in young people’s dreams.
It is more than just a program; it’s a community nurturing future leaders, innovators, and problem solvers. By supporting The Hidden Genius Project’s vision and collaborating on impactful initiatives, we can help pave the way for a brighter future where technology empowers everyone, regardless of race or background.
