Krys Maki
Assistant Professor | Faculty staff
Profile
Krys Maki is an Assistant Professor at the Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation. Their areas of research include feminist movements, collective organizing around gender-based violence, poverty and social inequality, and critical surveillance studies. Outside of academia, Krys worked as the Director of Research and Policy at Women’s Shelters Canada, a national non-profit network of violence against women shelters (2017-2022). Their scholar activism is deeply informed by their work as a long-time organizer and activist with labour, anti-poverty, and feminist movements.
Their current research focuses on collective care and collective action in the GBV movement and sector and how anti-violence workers and leaders are transforming their workplaces, the sector, and the movement.
Recent community-based research projects:
Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada. (2026). Stronger Workers, Stronger Survivors: A Strategy to Strengthen the Gender-Based Violence Sector in Canada. Available online:
Imagine Canada. (2026). The hidden cost of funding: how federal policies and practices impact nonprofits and their communities. Available online:
PhD Sociology, Queen’s University
MA Sociology, Queen’s University
BA Honours Sociology and Gender Studies, Trent University
- Labour and political economy
- Gender-based violence and care work
- Social policy
- Feminist and critical theory
- Non-profit organizations
- Community-based research
Books
Chateauvert, Julie, Philippe Dufort, Jonathan Durand Folco, Christopher Gunter, Krys Maki, Anahi Morales Hudon, Philippe Néméh-Nombré, Julie Paquette, Jamel Stambouli, Simon Tremblay-Pepin, Amanda Wilson. (2025). Social Innovation for Real-World Transformation: Roadmaps for Changing the World, Bristol: Bristol University Press and Policy Press.
Maki, K. (2021). Ineligible: Single Mothers Under Welfare Surveillance. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
Maki. K. (forthcoming). Gender-based Violence Workers Pushing Back Against Neoliberalism: Building Collective Care for Collective Power. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Klostermann, J., Bunting, S., Maki, K and Anna Przednowek, P. (2025). “Care containers: The multi-layered politics of boundless work in Canada’s victim services sector.” Journal of Political Economy.
Maki, K. (2025). “Towards a Reciprocal Solidarity: Violence Against Women Shelters, Labour, and Unions.” Journal of Community Practice.
Maki, K. (2023). “Breaking the Cycle of Abuse and Closing the Housing Gap: A Mixed Methods Community-Based Study on Second Stage Shelters.” Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research. 14(2), 1–23.
Yakubovich, A. and Maki, K. (2021). “Preventing gender-based homelessness in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: the need to account for violence against women.” Violence Against Women.
Maki, K. (2011). “Neoliberal Deviants and Surveillance: Welfare Recipients Under the Watchful Eye of Ontario Works.” Journal of Surveillance and Society, 9(1): 47-63.
Chapters in Peer Reviewed Books
Maki, K, and Krull, C. (forthcoming). “Investing in Families and Children: Family Policies in Canada.” Canadian Families Today: New Perspectives (sixth edition) edited by Patrizia Albanese, Oxford University Press.
Maki, K. (2025). “Centering Intersectionality and Equity.” Social Innovation for Real-World Transformation: Roadmaps for Changing the World. Edited by Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation. Bristol: Bristol University Press and Policy Press.
Krull, C, and Maki, K. (2022). “Investing in Families and Children: Family Policies in Canada.” Canadian Families Today: New Perspectives (fifth edition), edited by Patrizia Albanese, Oxford University Press.
Maki, K. (2020). “Automating Social Inequality.” Infrastructures of Citizenship: Digital Life in the Global City edited by Deborah Cowen, Alexis Mitchell, Brett Story and Emily Paradis, UBC Press.
Research and Technical Reports
Maki, K, and Fernandes, S. (2026). “Understanding the Gender-Based Violence Workforce.” Part A in Stronger Workers Stronger Survivors: A Strategy to Strengthen the Gender-Based Violence Workforce in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada.
Osman, M., Maki, K., and Jensen, E. (2026). “The hidden cost of funding: how federal policies and practices impact nonprofits and their communities.” Imagine Canada.
Hoogendam, R. and K. Maki. (2024). “Feminist Brain Drain: Labour Issues and Worker Wellness in the VAW Shelter Sector.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Hoogendam, R. and K. Maki. (2022). “Shelter Voices Special Issue: Labour Issues and the Impact they have on VAW Shelter Staff.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Hoogendam, R. and K. Maki. (2022). “Environmental Scan: Pan-Canadian Child Welfare Policies and Practices.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Roebuck, B., Ferns, A., Scott, H., Maki, K., Tapley, J., Tague, C., McGlinchey, D., Vedard, T., Boileau, A., Thompson, K., Ahmad, and A., Rodriguex. (2022). “COVID-19, Victim Services, and Well-being.” Department of Justice, Canada.
Dale, A., Maki, K, and R. Nitia. (2021). “Expert Engagement to Address and Prevent Gender-Based Violence Final Report. A Report to Guide the Implementation of a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Gender-Based Violence.” Ottawa ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Canadian Women’s Foundation, Women’s Shelters Canada, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, Anita Olsen Harper (NACAFV), and Jihan Abbas (DAWN Canada). (2020). “Resetting Normal: Systemic Gender-Based Violence and the Pandemic.” Ottawa, ON: Canadian Women’s Foundation.
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. (2020). United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women. Call for submissions: COVID-19 and the increase of domestic violence against women.
Maki, K. (2020). “Shelter Voices Special Issue: The Impact of COVID-19 on VAW Shelters and Transition Houses.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Maki, K. (2020). “Breaking the Cycle of Abuse and Closing the Housing Gap: Second Stage Shelters in Canada.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Maki, K. (2019). “Transitioning to a Life Free from Violence: Developing a National Profile of Second Stage Shelters.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Maki, K. (2019). “More than a Bed: Developing a National Profile of VAW Shelters and Transition Houses.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Maki, K. (2018). “Mapping VAW Shelters and Transition Houses: Initial Findings of a National Survey.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Maki, K. (2017). “Housing, Homelessness, and Violence Against Women: A Discussion Paper.” Ottawa, ON: Women’s Shelters Canada.
Other publications
Maki, K. (2025). “Building Collective Care and Collective Power: Lessons Learned from Anti-violence Workers.” The Philanthropist Journal.
Maki, K. (2022). “Workers Supporting Survivors of Gender-Based Violence are Demanding Change.” The Conversation.