The Orisa Lifestyle Academy (OLA16) is a training and certification program for helping health & human services professionals who want to facilitate Obafemi Origunwa's work on personal priesthood, community-building, and social change. We are a community of sincere practitioners who believe in living the medicine that will heal our lives and the lives of those we are destined to serve. Our goal is 1 million Orisa Lifestyle Agreements by 2040.
OLA16 places the well-being of the community directly in the hands of the OLA16 Certified Catalysts. We honor the important role that each person plays in creating vibrant hubs of Orisa Lifestyle in every major city in the United States of America. OLA16 believes that business plans and Odu Ifa, ballots and ceremonies are all important tools for creating change in our communities. Currently we:
OLA16 places the well-being of the community directly in the hands of the OLA16 Certified Catalysts. We honor the important role that each person plays in creating vibrant hubs of Orisa Lifestyle in every major city in the United States of America. OLA16 believes that business plans and Odu Ifa, ballots and ceremonies are all important tools for creating change in our communities. Currently we:
- Cultivate collective devotion through COMMUNITY WORSHIP
- Organize spiritual activism through VOLUNTEERING
- Develop personal priesthood through CATALYST CERTIFICATION
ABOUT US
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy (OLA16) teaches sixteen principles of sustainable culture. Our curriculum, resources and activities are intended to recognize Members who best exemplify Orisa Lifestyle in their daily lives. The Academy encourages members to heal their lives and the lives of those they serve. Members distinguish themselves as men and women who add value to the traditions and spirit of Orisa Lifestyle. As such, they promote year-round and long term orisa devotion, and provide positive service to others. OLA16 membership, activities, and training are models of quality leadership development and programming that enrich and help to rescue for all African Americans the virtues of Orisa Lifestyle.
THE AGBOLE
The Agbole is a hub of òrìsà lifestyle in every city in the United States of America. The objective is to serve the African American community by providing venues which are conducive to the exchange of specialized knowledge and best practices associated with òrìsà lifestyle. As such, members and friends of the Agbole can regularly participate in spiritual and vocational activities, like divination, rites of passage and language instruction. Numerous ceremonies, such as Esentaiye(child blessing) should also be performed at the Agbole. Especially during public holidays, the Agbole will also serve as a cultural arts school for children and youth between the ages 5 and 19. In this regard, the Agbole establishes and reinforces behavioral guidelines that the membership can use to hold one another accountable for bringing the collective vision to life. More precisely, the Agbole seeks to establish a performance-based culture where members expect to optimize their natural gifts and talents in the process of delivering on the Ancestral Promise.
HISTORY
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy (OLA16) was founded in 2013 by Obafemi Origunwa, MA in Oakland, CA. The impetus for the Academy was an urgent request, made by members of a community-based organization, which is dedicated to promoting African spirituality and culture. In order to define content for the class, Obafemi created online forum discussions, conference calls and interviews. It became clear to him that the local request actually reflected a National need. And so, Obafemi started to reorganize the content and structure of the class so that it might be accessible to people locally and globally. The first session of the Fundamentals of Orisa Lifestyle 1A was offered in November 2013. Twenty one students have participated in the Fundamentals 1A. Seven are completing the Fundamentals 1B.
STRUCTURE
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy (OLA16) is organized according to a three level organizational structure; circles, clusters, and regions. Circles will carry out the OLA16 program at the local level and are closely tied with local temples and community-based organizations. Clusters consist of several circles within a geographic region and Regions consist of Sections within a geographic region of the United States. Circles, Clusters, and Regions each will have a distinct set of responsibilities which ensure that the OLA16 program runs smoothly.
CIRCLES
At the local level, circles exist to serve individuals, families and community organizations, especially orisa temples. The key leaders in the circle are the Olori Ebi (Head of the Family), the Olùdamọ̀ràn Omo (Youth Advisor), and Olùdamọ̀ràn Agba (Senior Advisor). The Olori Ebi presides over the circle's executive members, who manage the annual program of activities, the most important of which is the Ijinle. While each circle will be different, it is expected that most will have have one or more vice advisors, a secretary, and a treasurer, as well as committee chairmen responsible for various aspects of the circle's program of activities. Many circles, especially large ones where additional structure is necessary, can also have chapters.
CLUSTERS
An Orisa Lifestyle Academy cluster consists of circles within a geographic area of the region. Each cluster is led by a premier, vice premier, and secretary, who play a crucial part in making the annual retreat a success. The cluster may lead training seminars, promote national programs of emphasis, and provide resources to local circles. Each year cluster premiers will be invited to a national planning meeting in Oakland, CA.
REGIONS
The Orisa Lifestyle Academy is organized into four geographical regions: Western, Central, Eastern and Southern. Each region is to be led by a youth region chief, a regional chairman, and a regional adviser. The region leadership helps execute the national program on a more local level, implements training seminars/webinars, provides its member sections with resources, and facilities communication between local organizations and the national OLA16 committee.
NATIONAL
At the national level, the Orisa Lifestyle Academy is to be governed by the national Orisa Lifestyle committee. The national committee sets policy, directs the national program of the Academy, and broadly manages the organization above the local circle level. The committee will be composed of the national chief and national vice chief, who are to be elected annually at the national planning meeting; the chairman, who is to be appointed annually; other volunteer members, appointed by the chairman; and two staff members, the director of the Academy and an OLA16 pedagogical specialist.
