At Orso, our focus has always been on helping the people, causes, and companies we care about succeed. Last year, we kicked off a philanthropic initiative to do even more, by making a donation each month to organizations that are meaningful to our team members and clients. (A few of those causes include Every Mother Counts, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Toys for Tots.)
This month, we’re proud to support one of our own clients, the Edmonton Islamic Academy (EIA), as they raise money to build a state-of-the-art school dedicated to educating the next generation of Muslim leaders. Orso is not only making a charitable contribution, we also had the opportunity to help bring the Academy’s fundraising campaign to life.
Our work with EIA: Creating a Campaign that Connects
Working with EIA leadership, our team realized right away that the K-12 school had big plans — and the enthusiasm to meet the moment with purpose and joy. Ranked #1 in Edmonton, the school was founded in 1987 in the basement of the Al-Rashid Mosque (the first mosque in Canada) with only 21 students. Today, more than 1,400 students attend the Academy. And another 1,700+ kids from the local community are on the waitlist to attend a new elementary school, for students from preschool to grade 6.
At the heart of the Academy’s success is their mission to celebrate and preserve Muslim culture and religion while focusing on academic excellence. Learning, leading, and belonging are all core to that mission.
Collaborating closely with EIA, our team developed the creative campaign from the ground up, launching “Here I Am” as a way to connect the school’s students to themselves, each other, and the surrounding community. (The full phrase, “I am from here & here I am” is from a poem by Muslim author Mahmoud Darwish and captures the captures the spirit of the past, present, and future.)
To help ensure this campaign had the depth to carry EIA forward, our team tapped into the Academy’s legacy, leadership in the community, and future growth. This perspective allowed us to create a joyful new visual identity and a voice rooted in confidence and purpose — not reaction. By centering pride, growth, and faith, we helped EIA strengthen its fundraising efforts while shifting conversations online, giving supporters a clearer, stronger message to rally around.
Why the “Here I Am” Campaign Matters to Us
For Orso, this campaign isn’t just a fundraising effort, it’s a chance to help build educational spaces where students can openly and joyfully celebrate their faith, culture, and community while finding real opportunities to become tomorrow’s change makers. We believe that supporting education benefits everyone and inviting more diverse voices to the conversation helps us all flourish together. That’s something we’ll gladly put our voices and money behind.
Where to Learn More
Interested in finding out more about EIA’s elementary school expansion project? You can read all about the Academy (including its famous history and detailed expansion plans) and the fundraising campaign at the Here I Am website.
We’re excited to support EIA not only through our work but by giving directly. If you’d like to make a donation, there are lots of options — from giving $25 to buy a brick to lay the school’s foundation to contributing $5,000 to help create a serene prayer space. If you’re looking for meaningful merch, you can also buy hoodies and sweatshirts.
We hope you’ll join us in supporting the students, present and future, at the Edmonton Islamic Academy.