Manolli Ekra

Senior Coordinator of Policy and Research at Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

Manolli Ekra was the Senior Coordinator of Policy and Research at Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI). She has a Master’s in local planning and community development from Paris I La Sorbonne University. She has a history of working and consulting in the nonprofit sector in areas of international development, humanitarian aid and research. She also has volunteered for organizations like Oxfam and the Agha Khan Foundation.  At OCASI, she conducted research about wellbeing, quality of life and advocating for more accessibility and inclusiveness, particularly for the most vulnerable people. 

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Citizenship; sociology of the family and intimate relations; sociology of gender; poverty; social policy; and research methods.

  • : Stalled Mobility? Income Inequality and Intergenerational Relationships Among Newcomer South Asian and Chinese Households in York Region

  • Gazso, A., Borras, J., Phonepraseuth, J., Mandell, N., Lam, L., & Man, G. A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship between Human and Social Capital in the Settlement of Chinese and South Asian Immigrants in Canada. Paper to be submitted to Canadian Ethnic Studies.
  • Gazso, A., Borras, J., Phonepraseuth, J., Mandell, N., Lam, L. and Man, G. (May 2021). “Life course capital and income (in)security among recently arrived Canadian immigrants from South Asian and China”. Canadian Sociological Association, Edmonton, AB
  • Gazso, Amber. Managing More than Poverty When Living with Addiction: Parents’ Emotion and Identity Work. Journal of Family Issues (Accepted, forthcoming).
  • Gazso, Amber, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Stephanie Baker-Collins, and Carrie Smith. 2020. The Generationing of Social Assistance Receipt and “Welfare Dependency” in Toronto, Canada. Social Problems 67(3):585-601
  • Baker-Collins, Stephanie, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Amber Gazso, and Carrie Smith. 2020. Resisting the Culture of Poverty Narrative: Perspectives of Social Assistance Recipients. Journal of Poverty 24(1):72-93
  • Gazso, Amber. 2020.“Dueling Discourses, Power, and the Construction of the Recovering Addict: When Social Assistance Confronts Addiction in Toronto, Canada.” Critical Social Policy 40(1):130-150
  • Smith, Carrie, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Amber Gazso, Stephanie Baker Collins, and Christopher Saxby. 2019. “The Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Social Assistance Use: A Chain of Adversities and Transitions from a Life Course Perspective” Journal of Public Child Welfare13(5):556-577.
  • Smith-Carrier, Tracy, Amber Gazso, Stephanie Baker Collins, and Carrie Smith. 2019. “Myth or Reality? Exploring Intergenerational Social Assistance Participation in Ontario, Canada.” Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 46(1):113-137.
  • Gazso, Amber, and Katherine Bischoping. 2018. “Feminist Reflections on the Relation of Emotions to Ethics: A Case Study of Two Awkward Interviewing Moments.” Forum Qualitative Social Research 19(3).
  • Gazso, Amber and Karen Kobayashi, Editors. 2018. Continuity and Innovation: Canadian Families in the New Millennium. Toronto: Nelson.
  • Webb, Jason, and Amber Gazso. 2017. “Being Homeless and Becoming Housed: The Interplay of Fateful Moments and Social Support in Neo-liberal Context.” Studies in Social Justice 11(1): 65-85.
  • Bischoping, Katherine and Amber Gazso. 2016. Analyzing Talk in the Social Sciences: Conversation, Discourse, and Narrative Strategies. London: Sage.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2016. “Low Income Lone Mothers and “Home”: The Importance of Social Relations.” In Sociology of Home, edited by G. Anderson, L. Suski, and J. Moore. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2016. “Mothers’ Maintenance of Families through Market and Family Care Relations. ” In Feminist Issues: Race, Class, and Sexuality, 6th edition, edited by Nancy Mandell and Jennifer Johnson. Toronto: Pearson/Prentice Hall. (significant revision of 2009 chapter)
  • Gazso, Amber. 2015. “Gendering Social Assistance Reform. In Welfare Reform in Canada: Provincial Social Assistance in Comparative Perspective, edited by Daniel Béland and Pierre-Marc Daigneault. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2014. “Parenting Young Children: Decisions and Realities.” In Canadian Families Today: New Perspectives, 3rd edition, edited by Patrizia Albanese and David Cheal. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Scobie, Olivia and Amber Gazso. 2013. “‘It was easier to say I didn’t have kids’: Mothering, Incarceration, and Relationships with Social and Criminal Justice Policies.” In Incarcerated Mothers: Oppression and Resistance. Toronto: Demeter Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2014. [Book review of Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Jane Pulkingham, editors, Public Policy for Women: The State, Income Security, and Labour Market Issues.] Basic Income Studies, 8(2), 5 pgs.

Presentations