Our Visionary
Founders
A belief in people. A commitment to education. A future shaped by possibility.
In 2007, Chip and Summer Wilson founded Imagine1day, setting in motion a shared ambition to expand access to quality education in Ethiopia.
A founding commitment
to Ethiopia’s future.
The courage to imagine
something different.
The Wilsons helped establish an organization that brings education and leadership development together. Their founding commitment placed long-term thinking, community ownership, and the potential of people at the heart of Imagine1day.
Working alongside Ethiopian communities and government partners, that approach connects better learning environments with the skills and leadership needed to sustain them.
A belief in human potential.
Our vision
“A world where all people are connected to their greatness.”
Our mission
“Leveraging the power of Education to Transform a Nation.”
Two perspectives.
A shared sense of possibility.
Chip Wilson
Chip Wilson founded lululemon in 1998, following his earlier venture, Westbeach. His work spans entrepreneurship and philanthropy, with an emphasis on human potential, healthier lives, and ambitious goals. Through House of Wilson, his interests include technical apparel, real estate, and investment.
As a co-founder of Imagine1day, he helped turn a commitment to education into an organization built for lasting change.
Summer Wilson
Summer Wilson was lululemon’s founding lead designer and later co-founded Kit and Ace and Ride Cycle Club. Her interests span design, entrepreneurship, education, and community life. She remains involved in House of Wilson, and the family has supported design and arts education through initiatives including the Wilson School of Design and the Wilson Arts Plaza.
Her role in founding Imagine1day forms part of a wider family commitment to creating opportunities for people and communities to thrive.
Generosity with
the future in mind.
The Wilsons established Imagine1day with an endowment intended to support operating costs and enable public donations to reach projects in Ethiopia.
This founding model reflected a lasting ambition: to build an organization with the resources and discipline to plan beyond immediate needs, while investing in locally owned progress.
What that commitment makes possible.
Opportunity to learn
Education opens possibilities for children, families, and the communities they help shape.
Potential to lead
Developing people’s confidence and capabilities helps turn a shared vision into action.
Change that lasts
Progress grows stronger when communities help define, lead, and sustain it.
Enterprise with a wider purpose.
Based in Vancouver, Canada, House of Wilson brings together the family’s investments, initiatives, and community impact efforts. Its work spans business, conservation, public art, education, and medical research. Explore the organizations below to learn more about this wider family story.
Wilson 5 Foundation
Established in 2012, the foundation supports land conservation, parks, and public art in British Columbia. Its work with conservation partners helps protect natural places for future generations, while its public art initiatives invite people to connect with shared spaces.
Low Tide Properties
Low Tide Properties invests in, develops, and manages real estate in Vancouver and Seattle. Its approach connects investment in buildings with the people, businesses, and neighbourhoods that give those places their character.
Wilson Capital
Wilson Capital is House of Wilson’s investment management platform. It makes public and private investments, with particular experience in consumer businesses, technical apparel, and retail, alongside selected fund partnerships.
SOLVE FSHD
Supported by the Wilson family, SOLVE FSHD advances research and therapy development for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. It works with academic and biotechnology partners to help move promising scientific ideas toward treatments.
Imagine1day is part of the Wilson family’s founding legacy in education. House of Wilson describes its development toward independent operation in Ethiopia, where local teams and partners continue the work.
Founded by a family.
Carried forward by many.
Imagine1day’s work connects education with the conditions children need to participate in learning: safety, wellbeing, clean water, and effective leadership. Ethiopian teams work alongside communities, government institutions, and development partners to put these priorities into practice.
Learning that opens doors
Classrooms, teacher development, and better instruction help children access education and make progress. Accelerated learning and education in emergencies support children whose schooling has been interrupted.
Safety to learn and grow
Child protection, psychosocial support, and prevention and response to gender-based violence address challenges that can keep children and families from participating safely in education and community life.
Healthier learning environments
Safe water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene support help reduce everyday barriers to school attendance, particularly for girls, and strengthen the wellbeing of surrounding communities.
People who sustain progress
Leadership development helps educators, community members, and public institutions take responsibility for shared goals and strengthen the systems that support children’s learning.
Local ownership. Lasting opportunity.
Teaching that meets children where they are
Imagine1day’s Teaching at the Right Level work in Gedeo demonstrates how a focused learning initiative can inform wider education practice. Implemented with government partners and support from the Costa Foundation, the pilot helped build momentum for adoption across the zone. The approach strengthens basic reading and mathematics by responding to children’s learning levels.
Communities investing in their own future
Imagine1day reports community contributions of ETB 10 million at Wabe Gefersa Primary School and ETB 8 million at Lemlem Secondary School in Oromia. These investments show how families and local leaders help shape and sustain education. The founders’ legacy lives on through the commitment of people who take ownership of the opportunities around them.
These examples reflect the work of communities, government, and program partners; they are part of the organization’s continuing story.
Help write the next chapter.
Be part of a future in which more children can learn, grow, and realize their potential.