Foundation
Founded by Dr. Lockett in 2025 after completing his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, the collective bridges research, advocacy, and community engagement through affirming scholarship.
B.A.L.L. Research Collective
Belonging, Advocacy, Liberation, Love.
Where knowledge is empowerment, research is reclamation, and community care is love in action.
Mission
At the BALL Research Collective, we are committed to advancing knowledge that empowers, affirms, and prioritizes the well-being of Black, Afro-diasporic, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Belonging
Advocacy
Liberation
Love
Research rooted in care.
About
Learn more about the work.
Focus
Promoting health equity, centering Black queer joy and wellness, and developing culturally responsive work grounded in lived experience.
Values
Belonging, Advocacy, Liberation, and Love shape how the collective approaches research, mentorship, partnership, and community care.
Our Values
Belonging
We are committed to cultivating affirming spaces where communities are seen, valued, and empowered.
Advocacy
We believe in research that supports equity and systemic transformation.
Liberation
We practice deconstructing and disrupting oppressive systems while advancing pathways toward collective freedom and wellness.
Love
We center care, humanity, and relational accountability in our scholarship and community engagement.
Explore
Move deeper into the collective.
Current Work
Research with community at the center.
A dedicated destination for active studies, featured publications, presentations, and community initiatives. Details will be added as projects are ready to share.
Team
People behind the work.
Dr. Gabriel Lockett
Founder profile scaffold. This destination will introduce Dr. Lockett's role, research focus, and vision for the collective.
Graduate students
Bio and research-interest cards to be added.
Students
Student involvement details to be added.
Affiliates
Collaborator and affiliate details to be added.
Resources
Resources shelf.
A compact placeholder for future community and research links without weighing down the homepage flow.
Monthly reflection
Love Letters to the Community
A future space for affirming reflections, encouraging videos, and monthly messages rooted in care, belonging, and collective wellness.
Suggest a topicReflection image
Image to be added
Reserved for Gabe's confirmed visual pairing for this quote.
Reflection before contact
Joy as thriving.
"Joy is an important element of happiness. It is sometimes the difference between striving and thriving. One must nurture the joy in one's life so that it reaches full bloom."
Maya Angelou
Contact / Connect
Get involved.
Use this space for partnership inquiries, questions, requests for information, the official BALL email, and future social links.