Funlayo E. Wood

Ifa says we should be thankful, I say we should be thankful! Funlayo is a native New Yorker and is an Orisa priestess, scholar of the African Diaspora, traveler, researcher, writer and public speaker. A doctoral student in African and African American Studies with a primary field in Religion, Her research focuses on philosophicl and theological aspects of Ifá-Òrìsà tradition as practiced in Nigeria and in the Americas, and cross-cultural analysis of Yoruba religious concepts and practice – within all of which she privileges Yoruba language as a conduit to understanding. Funlayo holds a Bachelor of Arts in the African Diaspora in the Americas from the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique & Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master of Arts in History from the City College of New York where she was a graduate fellow at the Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service. Throughout her post-secondary career, she has conducted independent research on African Indigenous religious systems including research at the Un