The Hidden Genius Project Programs
The Hidden Genius Project Headquarters, 1441 Franklin Street, Fourth Floor, Oakland, CA 94612
About
The Hidden Genius Project Programs include technology workshops and introductory events led by Youth Educators for youth of color. Participants take part in computer science and software development activities such as coding, web design, app design, and digital game building, along with entrepreneurship, leadership, and team building. The programs include a 15-month Intensive Immersion Program that focuses on these areas over an extended period of time.
• Ages: 14–18 years old
• Schedule: 15-month Intensive Immersion Program
Five Black men started this organization in Oakland in 2012. The mission of The Hidden Genius Project is to train and mentor Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. The organization runs its Intensive Immersion Program in Oakland, Richmond, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Philadelphia, and each site is built to serve the community around it. Community Partnership Programming offers on-site, exposure-based technology workshops delivered by Youth Educators for local youth, and Catalyst Programming includes introductory workshops and events led by Youth Educators for youth of color to spark interest in technical skills and technology careers. Genius Studios engages alumni in building digital games together, with alumni mentoring newer cohorts, and the Alumni Venture Seed Fund provides capital into Genius-led businesses. The organization focuses on Black male youth and describes itself as a bridge between young people with talent and employers, colleges, funders, and community organizations, and it describes its approach as targeted universalism, aiming at young people furthest from opportunity so that benefits ripple out to the entire community.
The leadership team includes Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D. (Chief Executive Officer); Tariq Norris (Chief Finance and Operations Officer); and Mounir Tyler, LCSW (Chief Programs Officer). Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D., has conducted substantial research in education and youth development, focusing on equity and access in K–12 education for underserved populations and on linkages among race, class, and youth development. Tariq Norris has expertise in organizational development, fiscal management, non-profit administration, youth development, and strategic planning, and studied Communications at Alabama State University. Mounir Tyler is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a background in non-profit executive leadership, consulting, clinical therapy, for-profit management, and youth development.
The Hidden Genius Project was a 2023 Honoree of the Walter Kaitz Foundation Social Impact Award. Media coverage has included descriptions of the program immersing high school men of color in coding, web and app design, team building, and other skills related to the tech economy, and reporting on teenagers studying computer coding that they are not taught in school. Other coverage has highlighted mentorship, STEM skills for young Black men, and efforts to fuel a diverse tech talent pipeline by teaching young men of color to code. Alumni and youth educators have described The Hidden Genius Project as an opportunity for young Black men to see what else there is in the world.
Last updated August 15, 2026.
• Ages: 14–18 years old
• Schedule: 15-month Intensive Immersion Program
Five Black men started this organization in Oakland in 2012. The mission of The Hidden Genius Project is to train and mentor Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. The organization runs its Intensive Immersion Program in Oakland, Richmond, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Philadelphia, and each site is built to serve the community around it. Community Partnership Programming offers on-site, exposure-based technology workshops delivered by Youth Educators for local youth, and Catalyst Programming includes introductory workshops and events led by Youth Educators for youth of color to spark interest in technical skills and technology careers. Genius Studios engages alumni in building digital games together, with alumni mentoring newer cohorts, and the Alumni Venture Seed Fund provides capital into Genius-led businesses. The organization focuses on Black male youth and describes itself as a bridge between young people with talent and employers, colleges, funders, and community organizations, and it describes its approach as targeted universalism, aiming at young people furthest from opportunity so that benefits ripple out to the entire community.
The leadership team includes Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D. (Chief Executive Officer); Tariq Norris (Chief Finance and Operations Officer); and Mounir Tyler, LCSW (Chief Programs Officer). Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D., has conducted substantial research in education and youth development, focusing on equity and access in K–12 education for underserved populations and on linkages among race, class, and youth development. Tariq Norris has expertise in organizational development, fiscal management, non-profit administration, youth development, and strategic planning, and studied Communications at Alabama State University. Mounir Tyler is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a background in non-profit executive leadership, consulting, clinical therapy, for-profit management, and youth development.
The Hidden Genius Project was a 2023 Honoree of the Walter Kaitz Foundation Social Impact Award. Media coverage has included descriptions of the program immersing high school men of color in coding, web and app design, team building, and other skills related to the tech economy, and reporting on teenagers studying computer coding that they are not taught in school. Other coverage has highlighted mentorship, STEM skills for young Black men, and efforts to fuel a diverse tech talent pipeline by teaching young men of color to code. Alumni and youth educators have described The Hidden Genius Project as an opportunity for young Black men to see what else there is in the world.
Last updated August 15, 2026.
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