Iya Dr. Funlayo E. Wood-Menzies, is your favorite Ifa-orisa scholar priestess bringing love and light to the community through academic and spiritual programming. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University and an M.A. in History from the City College of New York. An initiate of Obatala and Iyanifa, she is delighted to contribute her voice as a scholar-practitioner and is dedicated to combining scholarship with social praxis.  

A native of New York City, Iya Funlayo has conducted research in Nigeria, Ghana, Cuba, Trinidad, Peru, and the United States. Her research on Ifa-Orisa and other African and diasporic traditions centers epistemology, gender and sexuality, healing, and intersections between religion, science, and technology. She serves as the managing editor of the Africana Studies Review and her work has been published in academic and popular venues including the Journal of Africana Religions, Crosscurrents, and the Journal of Interreligious Studies, and Medium.   

Committed to public scholarship, Iya Dr. Funlayo consistently seeks to share her knowledge beyond the ivory tower. She lectures regularly and was featured in the PBS documentary, Sacred Journeys: Osun-Osogbo (2014) and an episode of National Geographic’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (2017). She is the founding director of the African and Diasporic Religious Studies Association (ADRSA) and of Ase Ire, an Ifa-Orisa temple and Communiversity.

Payment Links; Cashapp: $Funlayo, Venmo: @FunlayoW, Email: Funlayo@aseire.com  

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