To Preserve and Protect
Joseph Atkinson was the editor, publisher and owner of the newspaper known today as the Toronto Star. His wife Elmina Elliot was, like her husband, a journalist, activist, and civic leader, fighting for social and economic justice. They established the philanthropic organization, the Atkinson Foundation, to ensure the fight for equity, decent work in safe conditions and fair pay would continue.
Nora Cole told us more about the Foundation's history and brought us up to speed on the work they are doing now.
The need for social equity advocacy is timeless and seemingly endless.
Nora Cole joined the Atkinson Foundation in 2018 and currently works as their Manager, Policy and Communications. She previously worked on community outreach, issue organizing, and communications in politics at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. Working in the area of social justice advocacy has become a passion.
In his youth, Joseph Atkinson experienced brutal conditions of work during his employment at a woolen mill. In his advocacy work, this was something that informed his pursuit of equity and led to the Atkinson Foundation's adoption of these principles:
Quickly scanning these principles reveals they are as relevant today as they were when the Foundation was established in 1948, and when a 14 year-old Joseph Atkinson was struggling to survive in 1879 when the woolen mill caught fire.
The Foundation's current initiatives have become even more focused with the advent of the COVID19 pandemic on "a just transition for essential workers and their families to a new economy — one that produces decent work, shares power, and supports the well-being of all." The work is arranged into 6 categories of projects:
- the needs of the essential workforce
- COVID19 emergency response
- POWERSHARE - shaping future work
- POWER LAB - local organizing, fair economies
- The Toronto Star Work and Wealth Beat
- Responsible Investing
Atkinson sponsors journalism fellowships to influence policy development and allow in-depth investigation and reporting on issues of compelling social interest.
Nora shared some closing thoughts based on a recent blog post.
We tend to agree that a park is for everyone.
What if we thought of our economy as for everyone? What if we thought of our social safety net as for everyone?
What if we made the changes needed, deep in our governmental and economic and social and environmental systems, to make these a reality?
Times of crisis are moments of reckoning – as we work through this moment I hope that all of our leaders and all Canadians are paying close attention to who our systems work for and who they don’t. And I hope that we remember how quickly this can change, when we care.