joanna kong ©2026
Senior at Payton — Chicago
Portrait of Joanna Kong with the Chicago skyline behind her.

Student & Founder

Senior — Walter Payton College Prep, Chicago

Joanna Kong is a senior at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago — and the founder of YScholar and OjO Gifts.

Chicago, IL — yscholar.org / ojo.gifts

Selected ventures
Joanna Kong
Class of 2027 41.8781° N
87.6298° W
Scroll to explore Selected ventures
02 — Chicago
Education Selective enrollment AI product design Fundraising Academic interests Ideas & predictions

Ventures / Chicago

Fragments from two ventures.

Drag to explore

About Joanna

I build organizations and products that feel inevitable — an education organization that prepares Chicago students for selective enrollment, and a fundraising platform where schools and teams sell AI-designed gifts.

The student

I’m a senior at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago, IL. I study at one of Chicago’s selective enrollment schools — and I spend my time building things other students and schools can actually use.

The ventures

I founded YScholar (yscholar.org), Chicago’s leading education organization preparing gifted students for Chicago’s selective enrollment schools — and OjO Gifts (ojo.gifts), an AI-designed customized gift fundraising platform for schools and sports teams.

02Ventures founded
04After-hours pursuits
01City — Chicago, IL
(02) Selected ventures 02 ventures — Chicago

Selected
ventures

Two ventures founded from Chicago: an education organization for selective enrollment, and an AI gift fundraising platform for schools and teams.

View full index — 02
(03) Capabilities From classroom to campaign

What
I do

A student founder’s range — from selective-enrollment preparation to AI product, academic work and ideas about what comes next.

YScholar (yscholar.org) — Chicago’s leading education organization preparing gifted students for Chicago’s selective enrollment schools.

  • Selective enrollment preparation
  • Programs for gifted students
  • Study systems & practice materials
  • Admissions readiness
  • Chicago student community
Walter Payton College Prep — Chicago

OjO Gifts (ojo.gifts) — an AI-designed customized gift fundraising platform where schools and sports teams fundraise by selling unique customized gifts.

  • AI-designed customized gifts
  • Fundraising for schools & sports teams
  • Team stores & campaigns
  • Unique designs for each school & team
  • Custom gift platform
OjO Gifts fundraising flow

The hardest AP courses, spread deliberately across literature, math, science and social science — all A’s in class, 5’s on nine of eleven exams.

  • LiteratureEnglish Language & Comp, Seminar, Chinese Language & Culture
  • MathCalculus BC, Statistics, Computer Science A
  • ScienceChemistry, Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: E&M
  • Social scienceU.S. History, Microeconomics
  • Debate & speechFuture Problem Solvers 2026 — 1st place, Illinois, Global Issues track
Lane Tech College Prep — Chicago
11AP courses — all A’s
4.0Unweighted GPA
5.3Weighted GPA
15APs by graduation
AP exam scores 11 exams taken
LITERATURE · 5.0 MATH · 4.7 SCIENCE · 4.7 SOCIAL SCIENCE · 5.0
  • Literature & language — avg 5.0 English Lang & Comp ’25 5 · Seminar ’26 5 · Chinese ’24 5
  • Math & computing — avg 4.7 Calculus BC ’26 5 (AB subscore 5) · Statistics ’26 5 · Comp Sci A ’26 4
  • Science — avg 4.7 Chemistry ’25 5 · Physics C: Mech ’26 5 · Physics C: E&M ’26 4
  • Social science — avg 5.0 U.S. History ’24 5 · Microeconomics ’25 5
On track to complete 15 APs 11 / 15

Where I think education, AI and fundraising are heading — from the inside of two ventures, not from a distance.

  • Access & selective enrollment
  • AI-designed, made personal
  • The future of school fundraising
  • Lessons from building young
  • What comes next
OjO Gifts product showcase

Have a school, team, or idea in mind?

Let’s talk
(04) Beyond the classroom Four pursuits

After
hours

Marathons, athletics, concert halls and rail jams — what the rest of the week looks like.

Two finishes through the city that raised me — 26.2 miles at a time.

  • 2× Chicago Marathon finisher
  • 26.2 miles, start to finish
  • Chicago, IL
Joanna Kong holding her finisher medal at the Chicago Marathon.
Chicago Marathon — 2× finisher.

Competing under the lights as a member of the Walter Payton varsity flag football team.

  • 3× MVP — Walter Payton varsity
  • Payton Grizzlies flag football
  • Chicago, IL
Walter Payton varsity flag football game in daylight.
Payton flag football — Chicago, IL.

First stand cellist in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra — and Regional Director of the Back to Bach Project, organising introductory classical music classes for younger kids around Chicago with other instrumental players.

  • First stand cellist — Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
  • Regional Director — Back to Bach Project ↗
  • Introductory classical music classes for younger kids
  • Organised with other instrumental players across Chicago
Joanna Kong performing on cello on stage.
First stand — Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Chasing rail jams out west — fast, loud and far from a desk.

  • 1× Gold Medal — USASA Midwest Region
  • 1× Silver Medal — USASA Midwest Region
  • USASA National Championship Finalist — Copper Mountain, CO
  • Snowboard
  • On the road
Joanna Kong holding her snowboard at a USASA competition.
2025, 2026 USASA National Championship Finalist — Copper Mountain, CO

Ventures and school

(05) Ventures Real work, Chicago
“Chicago students deserve real preparation — and every team deserves better fundraising.” Joanna Kong — Founder, YScholar & OjO Gifts
Active YScholar — yscholar.org Selective enrollment prep Active OjO Gifts — ojo.gifts AI fundraising platform Senior Walter Payton College Prep Chicago, IL
(06) Contact Say hello / Chicago

Let’s make something inevitable.

Senior at Payton, building YScholar and OjO Gifts.

For prep programs visit yscholar.org — for fundraising visit ojo.gifts. For everything else, email me. I reply to every thoughtful message within two working days.


Elsewhere

Studio

  • Chicago, IL
  • —:— CT
  • Walter Payton College Prep
© 2026 Joanna Kong. All rights reserved. Student founder — Chicago, IL Back to top ↑