About 30 teenagers from lower-income families in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park will get a rare insider's look at Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Facebook this Friday, while others will tour NASA Ames and a half-dozen other sites.

The teens are part of nearly 400 Boys & Girls Club members from throughout the Western United States participating in a three-day Youth Leadership Conference Friday through Sunday (Nov. 13-15).

This year, the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula is hosting the annual event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City.

On Friday afternoon, the teens will split into groups to tour the facilities of companies such as Facebook, Google, EBay and the videogame company Electronic Arts.

Professionals from various departments at Google will give teens a big picture of the different career paths one can explore at the technology giant.

"We want to introduce them to various community and corporate leaders so they can get an idea of what opportunities are available to them," said Chris Canter, director of development for Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula.

The teens are all members of the Keystone program, a leadership program in Boys & Girls Club of America for teens aged 14 to 18.

Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust and Foster City Mayor John Kiramis will greet teens at the opening session Friday evening.

Author Maria Reyes will speak to the teens Saturday morning about her life experiences, including her former gang involvement and how her high school English teacher helped turn her life around by encouraging her to keep diaries about her life.

Reyes' diary entries were compiled and published in "The Freedom Writers Diary," which was later made into the movie "Freedom Writers" starring Hillary Swank.

Keystoners can also opt to tour several colleges Saturday, including Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley and Santa Clara University, where hey will learn about admissions requirements and social aspects of college life.

Other teens will volunteer at My New Red Shoes, an organization that focuses on homeless youth. The conference will close Sunday with an awards brunch.

"This conference is another opportunity for our teens to meet others from other communities," Canter said. "They'll be able to share their best practices and ideas, and learn from each other."