After Atkinson senior died in 1948, control of the Toronto Star passed to the trustees of the foundation.
[8] Through the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy is a collaborative project between the Atkinson Foundation, the Honderich Family, and the Toronto Star through which they present an annual award to a "seasoned" Canadian journalist which includes funding for a year-long investigation into a current Canadian policy issue.
[9] On May 13, 2018 the Atkinson Foundation named economist Armine Yalnizyan as the two-year Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers—on collaborative research on "policy innovation for inclusive economic growth in an era of rapid technological change".
[10] In 2014 the Atkinson Foundation partnered with the Toronto Star to hire Sara Mojtehedzadeh as the "work and wealth" reporter; in 2017 they partnered to hire Carleton University graduate, journalist Sabrina Nanji to report on "democracy and democratic reform.
"[2] Cathy Crowe, a "street nurse", educator, author, social justice activist and filmmaker, specializing in advocacy for the homeless in Canada, was the recipient of the Economic Justice Fellowship Award from the Atkinson Charitable Foundation in 2004[11] which was twice renewed.