Technical and professional capability
What participants learn to do.
- Software and AI fluency
- Domain knowledge
- Research
- Business skills
- Communication
- Sales
- Project execution
- Role-specific depth
Leadership Program
Truth Academy Leadership Program
Develop leaders who can build, serve, and develop others.
A selective, multi-year system that combines education, leadership development, service, mentorship, and real-world execution for high-potential students across the Inland Empire and Southern California.
A program in preparation. We’re preparing a first pilot cohort of about 10 students. Nominations and applications haven’t opened yet, and dates, site, and schedule will be confirmed with families and, where relevant, schools and community organizations. What follows describes the program we’re building, not a service already running.
The thesis
Why this program exists
Identify unusually high-potential people early.Invest heavily in their leadership, character, technical fluency, community service, and ability to execute real projects.Develop them into leaders who can then develop others.
Our mission
Truth Academy exists to create unusually capable, high-agency people who can take responsibility for consequential work and execute in the real world.
What world-class means here
Agency.
“World-class” is not defined by prestige, grades, or test scores alone. It means a participant develops unusual agency: when given a meaningful project, that person can understand the problem, organize the work, communicate with people, make sound judgments, recover from setbacks, and drive the work to completion.
Eight principles
The commitments behind every decision
They shape who is selected, what participants do each week, and how anyone advances from one stage to the next.
- 01
Selective first
Start with about 10 students and invest deeply rather than optimizing for scale.
- 02
Leadership first
Develop people who can lead themselves, lead projects, and eventually develop others.
- 03
Character is non-negotiable
Technical weakness can be trained. Serious character problems are disqualifying.
- 04
Projects over classes
Students advance by demonstrating execution and completing the program, not by accumulating seat time alone.
- 05
Service is required
Every participant completes at least 5 hours of community service per month.
- 06
Technology is foundational
Every participant gains software and AI literacy, regardless of eventual specialization.
- 07
Real-world exposure
Participants receive carefully bounded community and client exposure appropriate to their maturity and risk level.
- 08
Long-term compounding
Older fellows and graduates progressively mentor younger participants, creating a self-reinforcing talent flywheel.
Two capabilities, in parallel
Skill and character, built together
Every participant develops both at the same time. Neither one substitutes for the other.
Human capability
Who participants become.
- Leadership
- Discipline
- Integrity
- Resilience
- Judgment
- Service
- Interpersonal skill
- Physical fitness
- The ability to develop others
The pilot at a glance
Small by design. Built around real projects.
Projects are the center of the Academy. Every first-cohort project should require community interaction rather than being completed entirely behind a laptop.
- Cohort
- About 10studentsA selective first cohort
- Length
- 12weeksOne structured pilot
- Time
- 4–6hours a weekAbout 48–72 structured hours across the pilot
- Service
- 5hours a monthRequired of every participant
- Proposed hubs
- Riverside & MontclairProposedOne will be chosen as the primary home base where possible, with approved field sites for project work.
Three arcs across 12 weeks
Every week runs three strands side by side: a leadership theme, a skill session, and a project milestone. The project carries each team from choosing a real community problem to presenting what changed at Demo Day.
Weeks 1–4
Define the problem and prototype
By week 4: Prototype v1 or field intervention
Weeks 5–8
Build and test with the community
By week 8: Run community activity or deploy pilot
Weeks 9–12
Measure, improve, and present
By week 12: Demo Day + advancement review
Who it serves
Starting in two Inland Empire communities
The first cohort draws on local high school students. College students and the wider region join the picture at later stages.
First cohort
Where the pilot begins
High school students in two communities close to home.
High school students in the Ontario-Montclair community
Planned role: Primary early cohort source
High school students in the Jurupa Valley community
Planned role: Primary early cohort source
Later stage
Where it grows next
Planned as the program grows and the pilot proves its quality.
College students in the Inland Empire
Planned role: Near-peer mentors, later-stage fellows, interns, specialist pipeline
Other Southern California students
Planned role: Future expansion population
Who leads it
A small team, each with a clear role
Raul Bedolla and John Sio co-lead the pilot. Each person below owns a distinct, named part of the work.
Raul Bedolla
Director of Education
Co-leads the pilot and turns the leadership philosophy into repeatable programming.
John Sio
Founder, Educator, and Mentor
Co-leads the pilot and leadership development, with a focus on character evaluation, mentorship, and leadership formation.
Matthew Torre
CEO/CTO of Truth Computing, Co-founder of Truth Academy
Teaches business and technology, and connects students with mentors, speakers, projects, and opportunities.
Shared ownership at the top
Raul Bedolla and John Sio co-own the Academy pilot and leadership development. Success looks like consistent student development, high standards, reliable program operations, strong cohort culture.
One accountable lead for everything else
One named owner should exist for every program deliverable. Co-ownership is appropriate at the program level, but weekly tasks, student cases, events, and projects should always have one accountable lead.
The long-term pathway
A first cohort, and a longer path beyond it
Beyond the pilot, the pathway is designed to include further stages as the program grows. Each one is earned through demonstrated readiness, not time served.
Foundation (begins with the pilot)
About ages 16–18
Truth Academy Fellowship (designed to include as the program grows)
About 18, in the transition to college or work
Paid Build Trial (designed to include as the program grows)
Late high school or college, as appropriate
Internship / Apprenticeship (designed to include as the program grows)
College years
Rotational Program (designed to include as the program grows)
Early career
Launch / Full-time / External Path (designed to include as the program grows)
Post-program
Why Truth Computing invests in this
Truth Computing initially underwrites the Academy so that the program can optimize for quality rather than sponsor requirements.
Truth Academy is intended to produce excellent people generally. At the same time, it is deliberately structured as a long-term talent pipeline for Truth Computing: as the program grows, the pathway is designed so that participants who thrive could progress from student to fellow to paid builder to intern to rotational employee and, potentially, long-term leader.
Every stage after Foundation describes what the pathway is designed to include as the program grows. Nothing here is an offer of employment, pay, or a scholarship.
Graduates may go on to…
- Truth Computing
- Leading universities
- Medicine
- Government
- Journalism
- Education
- Entrepreneurship
- Design
- Law
The aim is excellent people, wherever they choose to go.
The talent flywheel
Leaders who create more leaders
The long-term advantage is not simply that Truth Academy trains students. It creates leaders who know how to create more leaders. That is how a 10-person first cohort can eventually become a durable Southern California talent institution and a major source of exceptional people for Truth Computing and the wider community.
- 01
Find high-potential people
- 02
Develop them
- 03
Give them real responsibility
- 04
Teach them to lead
- 05
Have them develop others
Then the loop begins again: the people who were developed help find and develop the next cohort.
Selection
Selective by design
The first cohort will be about 10 students, chosen for potential, character, and agency rather than polish or prior access.
Nominations and applications haven’t opened yet. If you know a student who fits, or you are one, you can tell us now so the program team can follow up when they do.
Five steps from nomination to cohort
- 1Nomination / application
- 2Short written response
- 3Small project or challenge
- 4Character review
- 5Final selection