Meet a 39-year-old founder helping Black boys transform their lives through tech and mentorship

Brandon Nicholson has always supported other people.

When he was a child, the 39-year-old knew that professional and educational opportunities for young, Black boys weren't very accessible unless you were connected.

He tells CNBC Make It that his parents were trained as lawyers and were involved in school policies. There's a lot of support for me.

The assistant principal and counselor called me out of my homeroom class to go to the office. A better chance is a program that helps young people of color apply to prep schools around the country. All I could think about was the number of people who didn't get called into the office.

Nicholson wanted to do something so that people wouldn't have to get a special call to get something.

He didn't know that he would become the founding executive director of The Hidden Genius Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training and mentoring Black male youth in technology.

Brandon Nicholson is the founder of The Hidden Genius Project.

The project deals with hidden geniuses.

Nicholson and his team have supported the professional development of over 9,300 students, provided over 600,000 hours of direct training, obtained millions in grants, and made mentorship and tech skills accessible to Black boys. The Hidden Genius Project held a grand opening for their new headquarters in Oakland.

Nicholson prepared for entrepreneurship by learning lessons along the way.

One thing most established people have in common is that they did it their own way. Successful people usually have a personal board of directors that helps them reach their goals.

Nicholson attributes his success to his parents, wife and professors. It was the best thing that he did to prepare himself for entrepreneurship, he said.

He says that the stock art image of entrepreneurship is a representation of a single individual trying to build a successful venture and eventually carrying everyone else along with them. The most dynamic entrepreneurs understand how to build together in ways that affect mutual gain.

One of the Black men Nicholson encountered as a student at UCLA and UC Berkeley is currently on his executive team at The Hidden Genius Project.

College leadership activities with organizations like Community House and Black Student Union helped me learn how to step up and step back, all while progressing toward a bolder common goal.

It's important to have a plan for your career, but it's also important to embrace and adapt to changes in that plan.

Growing up, Nicholson rarely imagined himself in his current position, but he feels like it was all meant to be.

Brandon Nicholson spoke at the grand opening of their new headquarters.

The project deals with hidden geniuses.

He said that he would not want to be a nonprofit executive as everyone in the role always seemed stressed out. The opportunity to lead The Hidden Genius Project was more intriguing, but what triggered the pivot was my inability to land a corporate role in the social impact/ social responsibility space. I applied for a lot of jobs and got a lot of no's.

I love what I do now, even though this wasn't the role I originally wanted to take on.

Business ownership isn't a walk in the park, but Nicholson says that impacting the lives of kids has been "extremely rewarding."

Compliance, financial controls, and all those responsibilities are innately challenging, so we need to make sure we stay solid on all of them. We don't want those things to affect the work we do to support our communities.

It can be difficult to make sure that everyone's needs are met and that the entire team feels supported, according to Nicholson.

There is a lot of pressure to make sure everyone can go to a home that is comfortable for them. People at home with them can eat with them. Everybody needs to do their job. You have to make sure that everyone carries their weight while we make sure they have what they need to thrive.

The new headquarters will be the culmination of all the hard work Nicholson and his team have done.

Many other partners stepped up to take care of us and help us get to where we are now. I am excited for the partners that serve young people to be able to bring their participants to such a beautiful, accessible, and safe space, and hopefully they will feel at home immediately.

There is a ribbon cutting ceremony for The Hidden Genius Project.

The project deals with hidden geniuses.

I hope that the space we build will be adopted by our community.

With the organization expanding to Atlanta and Chicago next year, Nicholson is hopeful about further growth towards not only a broader national presence but also towards deeper impact across all that we do.

For the new year, he has a few goals.

I look forward to returning to international travel with my family as we explore the world away from home. I want to sit on the board of a for-profit entity to develop new muscles and further enrich my leadership experience.

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