Google is allocating a $1 million grant to The Hidden Genius Project, an Oakland, Calif.-based organization dedicated to increasing the representation of young Black males in technology, supporting entrepreneurship and leadership skills. The funds, which are provided by the tech giant’s charitable extension, Google.org, were presented to the organization at Tech Slam, an event held in Silicon Valley that gives kids access to traditional S.T.E.M. resources and experts. Most importantly, it connects the dots regarding technology within non-traditional but related fields including music, fashion, and sports.
Brandon Nicholson, executive director of The Hidden Genius Project, gave the following statement:
“For the past five years, The Hidden Genius Project has been able to serve youth in a holistic fashion, revealing their genius throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. With a broadened vision of themselves, our Geniuses become change agents for their own lives and their communities. Thanks to the Google Impact Challenge Grant, we were able to increase our investment in program operations and expand our youth development opportunities to open an additional program site in Richmond, California.”
“Our efforts and results have positioned us to scale nationally, and additional funds from Google will help us reach our goal to provide career exposure opportunities like Tech Slam that offer entrepreneurship, leadership, and technology creation skills to youth throughout the country.”
Kudos to Google for helping to increase the number of brown faces in the world of tech.
