OAKLAND — Google unveiled its first Code Next site in East Oakland’s Fruitvale Village, where teens can learn tech in a program developed with MIT.

It is Google’s first such venture, though another is planned to open next year in Harlem, N.Y.

“We call it a playground, a place for kids to stretch their minds,” said Nilka Thomas, Google’s director of diversity and inclusion.

“A lot of folks have been asking, ‘Why Oakland?’ We want to make sure that the next generation of tech leaders come from Oakland — and are black and Latino,” she said.

“This is my proudest moment after 12 years at Google,” Thomas added. “They’re going to do things to this industry that we cannot imagine or believe. Their contributions are going to change the world.”

Her optimism set the tone for the evening last week, as a couple of hundred people celebrated Code Next’s arrival. The center has been operating since January on a pilot basis, but the build-out was only completed and ready for public viewing after a summer break.

By setting neighborhood youngsters on the path to becoming tech innovators, the goal is to diversify the upper echelons of the tech industry and harness the creativity and genius of African-Americans and Latinos, underrepresented in the world of technology.

“We are the perfect match for Google, are we not?” Mayor Libby Schaaf asked the gathering of about 200 on the roof of Fruitvale Village on Oct. 6.

“We are innovative, and we can even be a little disruptive at times,” she said to chuckles.

“It’s the meeting of Google’s tech resources and the genius of Oakland youth. You can create whatever you have in your mind,” the mayor said.

Google connected with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a curriculum for Code Next to inspire kids who may not have naturally gravitated to the field and foster independent, creative thinking once they set their foot in the door.

Google research found that 51 percent of black students and 47 percent of Latino students nationwide don’t have access to computer science classes in school, Thomas said.

“Without this access, students will be unable to discover an interest in computer science or be inspired by the possibilities that come along with it,” she said.

“Code Next fills this gap with a curriculum to get students started and provides opportunities that may otherwise have been out of reach,” Thomas said.

Google expects to eventually make the Code Next methodology available to all interested educators as open source material.

The program and Fruitvale Village site are entirely funded by Google and offered at no charge. The teenagers are referred by their schools or community organizations such as Black Girls Code, Hack the Hood, Level Playing Field or Unity Council. They have the freedom to pursue projects of their own impulses.

Instead of the usual model of lecturing, Code Next sees its approach to working with youngsters as being more of a facilitator.

“Teaching ‘at’ students is replaced by teaching them to understand how to become more effective problem solvers,” said Topper Carew, of MIT’s media lab, who worked with Google in developing the curriculum of “coding, computational thinking, engineering and design principles, in a safe place where one is encouraged to learn from mistakes.”

“As long as we continue to fuel the imagination, the potential is immense,” said Errol King, of Google.

The space, about 1,500 square feet on the first floor of Fruitvale Village, is divided into a classroom and a lab with 3-D printers, laser cutters and other tech equipment.

Architect Danish Kurani showed off the brightly colored space, decorated with images of tech innovators of every ethnicity.

“Especially in this neighborhood, how do we inspire these students to want to be the next generation of inventors, computer scientists, innovators, engineers and disrupters?” he said.

“They don’t have role models now. We want to make these guys rock stars,” Kurani said of the students.

Among the innovators featured on the walls are such non-household names as Marcos Mejia, Anaid Chacon, Uche Nnadi, David Sengeh and Fadel Adid.

“Code Next has given us a sense of direction for our young engineer,” said Lisa Cruz, whose son, Elias, participated in this year’s pilot program and spoke of how he sees his dad, also, as an engineer, but one who “did not have the opportunities that I do.”

“As we’ve seen our young man blossom, we knew this would be a pathway we would explore,” Lisa Cruz said. “I believe this is what Oakland students need more of.”

“We expect to see some of these students in our buildings after graduation,” Carew said.

Contact Mark Hedin at 510-293-3452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.