Why Loona Exists
The ability to build is becoming the most valuable skill of this decade. AI changed the game. Students no longer need years of preparation before creating something meaningful.
Future-Proof Your Child
AI has dramatically reduced the barrier to building software. Today, a motivated high school student can design an app, build it using AI tools, launch it, and get real users — all within weeks. The world increasingly rewards people who can identify real problems, create solutions, and improve based on real feedback.
By the end of Impact Academy, your student will have identified a real problem, built and tested a solution with AI tools, validated it with real users, and pitched their work on Demo Day. They'll walk away with practical entrepreneurship skills, a compelling college application portfolio piece, and the confidence that comes from real execution.
Loona is a guided, disciplined environment with live sessions, clear milestones, expert mentorship, and real accountability. Students are supported. Expectations are clear. Growth is measurable.
A portfolio of shipped products and a Demo Day presentation speaks volumes on college applications and internship interviews.
How We Teach
AI Is the Tool, Thinking Is the Skill
Students use AI to build real products. We teach them to think critically about what AI produces — to evaluate, refine, and own their work. The tool changes. The thinking doesn’t.
Feedback Over Assumptions
Real users tell you what works. Students ship early, gather feedback, and iterate — developing the instinct to improve based on evidence, every cycle.
Growth Takes Reps
Like sports or music, product building is a practice. Confidence, clarity, and capability compound with every cohort and every project.
Ownership Creates Leaders
When students own their product from problem to launch, they develop initiative, resilience, and the ability to make real decisions under real constraints.
Who Built Loona
Andres Aleson
Founder
I've built my career across private equity, impact investing, climate tech, product, and AI. I earned my MBA at UCLA, founded a climate tech startup from scratch, and led transformation initiatives at the Walmart Foundation. The skills that mattered most — thinking clearly, communicating persuasively, solving real problems — I learned by building.
For years, I've mentored high school and college students on career development — and I kept seeing the same pattern. Bright, ambitious students ready to do more, but with no clear path to start building before college. I built Loona to change that — to give students the tools, mentorship, and real-world experience to start building now.
I served as President of the BYU Social Venture Academy, where I mentored dozens of early-stage startups; and have invested in global startups with social impact. I currently mentor at the BYU Ballard Center for Social Impact and also teach at the university level. Loona combines everything I've learned — as a founder, a finance and product professional, and a teacher — into a program designed to develop the next generation of leaders.
This program is meant to help your student learn the skills of the future, practice responsibile use of AI, explore career paths in tech or domains not traditionally offered in high school programs, and build confidence in their ability to create real impact as a leader in their future career and even as a potential entrepreneur.
Shape the Next Generation
Loona is building a network of mentors and schools who believe in the potential of the next generation of builders. Here's how to get involved.
Become a Mentor
Share your expertise with ambitious high school students building real products. Whether you are an entrepreneur, engineer, product manager, or founder — your experience can shape a student's trajectory.
Express Interest →Bring Loona to Your School
For administrators and counselors interested in offering Loona to their students. Give your students the opportunity to build real products, develop professional skills, and gain real-world experience.
Get in Touch →