Director

Dr. Prentiss Dantzler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Founding Director of the Housing Justice Lab within the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. He also holds affiliations with the Departments of Geography and Planning and Social Justice Education.

As an interdisciplinary community-engaged scholar, his research focuses on housing policy, neighborhood change, and residential mobility with a particular focus on urban poverty, social welfare policies, race and ethnic relations, and community development. He works focuses on how and why neighbourhoods change and the extent to which policymakers, institutions, and local denizens create and react to those changes.

Prentiss received his Ph.D. in Public Affairs with a concentration in Community Development from Rutgers University-Camden. He also holds an M.P.A. from West Chester University and a B.S. from Penn State University.

Research Associate

Dr. A.T. Harrison is a community development practitioner and scholar with nearly 15 years of experience working with communities across the globe. He is a trained community organizer and currently serves as the Executive Director for the Community Land Trust of Western North Carolina in the U.S. 

His research interests include community development and power, affordable housing policy, neighborhood change, and housing deterioration. He is a quantitative scholar that maintains a strong community focus that drives all of his work. 

Research Associate

Dr. Desmond Ofori Oklikah is an incoming SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). His current research extends his SSHRC-funded doctoral project, and seeks to investigate housing literacy, rights, and awareness among racialized, low-skilled immigrant workers in mid-sized cities in Southwestern Ontario.

Employing power-foci intersectionality, EDI frameworks, and multiple-method approaches, including social network analysis (SNA), his research examines everyday housing experiences and the spatial and institutional barriers to successful integration and belonging in Canadian cities. Before joining UTM, he contributed to interdisciplinary research initiatives at the Network for Economic and Social Trends and Bridging Divides Program.

At UTM, his research will center marginalized housing experiences in broader discussions as we collectively look for alternative solutions to Canada’s growing housing crisis.

Research Assistant

Khalil is a graduate researcher at the University of Toronto’s Department of Sociology. He is also a former Transportation Engineer. Using novel quantitative methods, his research explores the relationship between digital and urban life. 

Research Assistant

Michelle Nadon Belanger (Mimi) is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on urban sociology, sociology of culture, and qualitative methods. Mimi is deeply motivated by the prospect of pursuing applied research and community work, and always strives to engage in critical inquiry and collaborative learning. Mimi received her BA and BMus from McGill University and MA from the University of Toronto. 

Research Assistant

Cesar is a PhD student in the University of Toronto’s Department of Sociology. His research lies at the intersections of homelessness and substance abuse and how housing outcomes relate to health and immigration, particularly among the Philippine diaspora.   

Research Assistant

Marie-Aminata is a PhD researcher in the University of Toronto’s Department of Sociology specializing in housing and migration policy. Her work notably focuses on analyzing and measuring the impact of housing policies on migrants’ experiences of settlement in France and beyond. She previously studied at the London School of Economics graduating with an MSc in International Migration and Public Policy.

Beyond the academy, she collaborated with non-governmental organizations, including Minority Rights International and Ayyem Zamen, leveraging her expertise to conduct research and translate findings into actionable projects designed to support marginalized communities. Currently, she is a researcher on Professor Prentiss Dantzler’s project at the School of Cities which aims to better understand the relationship between residential mobility and neighbourhood change in Toronto.  

Research Assistant

Ashley Wilkinson is a Health Sciences PhD candidate at the University of Northern British Columbia, building on a Masters in Health Sciences with a specialization in Indigenous and Northern Health from Lakehead University. She has several years of experience in health research related to community health and social issues for marginalized groups across diverse urban, rural, and remote geographies.

Her broader research interests include health equity, anti-racism, Indigenous health, and she is committed to community-engaged research approaches that centre the voices of those most affected by systemic inequities.

Research Assistant

Douglas is a graduate student and researcher in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. A Toronto-based researcher from the Maritimes, he does work on spatial violence and discrimination in communities in Toronto and Nova Scotia. Douglas works within academic and non-profit organizations to combat community issues stemming from systemic inequalities. His research interests include urban sociology, race and racism, transportation, accessibility, and historical geography.

Research Assistant

Massa Almoselly is an urban researcher, planner, and spatial justice advocate dedicated to advancing housing equity, community participation, and civic rights in cities. Her work examines how marginalized populations reclaim their rights to the city, focusing on bottom-up governance, participatory action research, and spatial justice framework building.

Grounded in over a decade of community-centred practice and leadership across the Middle East and Canada, Massa’s work bridges foundational urban theory with grassroots realities. She is the founder and director of Asas Foundation, an organization focused on participatory reconstruction, spatial equity, and urban rights. She also serves on the Steering Committee of Placemaking Canada, contributing to national communications, public outreach, and city-building initiatives.

Beyond her research and organizational leadership, Massa is deeply committed to public scholarship and urban storytelling. She produces and hosts digital audio and media platforms including the urbanism podcast Urban Liwan and the community audio initiative Naseej, designed to translate complex urban policy into accessible, community-driven dialogue.