Our mission is to "promote social and economic justice in the tradition of our founder," Joseph E. Atkinson. In the categories of health, social welfare, economic justice and education the Foundation has granted more than $55 million since its inception.
The Foundation has a focus on three priority areas in 2011:
Early Learning and Child Care: Innovative projects that demonstrate how to improve the futures of children and youth at risk through more effective early years programming and policies.
Poverty Reduction: Innovative projects--including community organizing, research and educational activities—geared to increasing community and policy capacity to tackle poverty.
The Canadian Index of Wellbeing: A new approach to measuring how Canadians' lives are getting better – or worse – in areas that matter: health, standard of living, quality of the environment, time use, education and skills, community vitality, civic engagement, and arts and culture.
The Foundation also awards the Annual Fellowship In Public Policy and the annual Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh Award.
The Atkinson Economic Justice Fellowships support social change leaders to continue to think and act for a more just future for all Canadians. Previous winners include immigrant-rights activist Uzma Shakir progressive economist Armine Yalnizyan, former premier Roy Romanow and housing activist Cathy Crowe. Applications are not accepted.
For a complete list of our funding partners, check out our Annual Reports or review the latest e-bulletin Spotlight articles.
Please note that given our priorities and committed resources to current partners and initiatives in 2011, we are not accepting unsolicited applications. Click here to learn more about our traditional granting criteria.
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Joseph Atkinson’s Social Crusades
Atkinson’s fighting words in print and video
Joseph Atkinson was best known as the publisher of The Toronto Star, running the newspaper from 1899 to 1948. But in almost every aspect of his life Atkinson challenged Canadians to create a just, equitable, safe and healthy society for every citizen, no matter what their circumstances.
His social justice quest is well captured in a recent book and video:
Big Ideas: The Social Crusades of Joseph E Atkinson, is a book that captures the Atkinson legacy in the words he wrote or commissioned for The Toronto Star during his 49 years at the helm. More by clicking here...
Fighting Words is a new documentary produced by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation that examines the life and times of the Star’s legendary publisher, tells the story of a great newspaper in the making, and charts the City of Toronto’s progress towards a more civil society.
The documentary is now available on Youtube by clicking here…
or on DVD from the Foundation by clicking here…. |
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