Meet Dr. Loy
Dr. Loy L. Azalia (Ah-Zah-Lee-Ah),
Vision Keeper & Principal Consultant
MY STORY
I am a researcher, evaluator, strategist, and community advocate who believes deeply that research should heal, not harm. With a PhD in African Studies from Howard University and over a decade of experience in community-centered research, I founded Akullu to transform how we approach research, evaluation and knowledge creation.
My journey began in the archives and classrooms of historically Black institutions, studying migration, belonging, and the power of storytelling in the African Diaspora. But I quickly learned that the most important knowledge lives in community, in the stories we tell, the silences we honor, and the wisdom our ancestors left us.
My Work
My Work Spans Multiple Worlds
Research & Evaluation Leadership: I've built research departments from the ground up and authored landmark reports developed in partnership with community members and grassroots leaders.
Policy & Advocacy: From Equal Justice USA, to the Children's Defense Fund and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (Northern Virginia Chapter), I've translated complex data into tools for liberation and systems change.
Community-Driven Research: I've conducted participatory research across the U.S. and Uganda, always centering community wisdom and healing.
Teaching & Mentorship: Through workshops, trainings, healing circles, and capacity-building, I support other researchers and story-holders in moving beyond extractive models toward liberatory practice.
My Approach
What Drives My Work
I believe research and evaluation should be a reflective and restorative practice—one that honors the communities we serve while creating accountability for real change. Whether I'm facilitating a healing circle for burned-out researchers or designing an evaluation framework for a grassroots organization, I'm guided by the same question:
How can this work serve healing and liberation?
My approach draws from community knowledge systems, cultural methodologies, and the everyday wisdom of communities fighting for their lives. I've learned that the most rigorous research often happens when we honor both embodied research and analytical insight.
Movement-Building
Building Power Through Accessible Tools
From national organizations to grassroots collectives to individual community leaders, I focus on creating research & evaluation designs, tools and frameworks that people can actually use to strengthen their work. I believe data should build power, not gatekeep it—which means developing accessible methodologies that translate complex insights into actionable strategies for movement building and systems change. Whether partnering with established institutions or emerging grassroots efforts, my commitment remains the same: ensuring that research serves those closest to the struggle and amplifies their vision for transformation.
More than Research
Beyond the Consulting Room
When I'm not designing evaluations or facilitating workshops, you'll find me pouring into my creative offerings, the Waves in the Sunset zine, hosting How to Listen to Music podcast, or dreaming up new ways to make research accessible and beautiful, and transformational. I believe our work should bring joy, even as we tackle the most serious questions of our time.
