About Us

Zelos is a Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity certified small, woman-owned, and minority-owned (SWaM) business, #650963, with the micro-business designation as well.

The history of Zelos

Zelos was founded in 2006 by Lou O’Boyle who—in the midst of a successful career in local government—started a small business to offer her facilitation expertise and strategic planning methodology to many more local governments. By building quality relationships with her clients, Lou expanded to help them with organizational development and training services that would help their strategic plans come to life—specifically, leadership development, customer service training, and performance measurement guidance. Lou sold Zelos to Stacia Aylward, CEO, in 2012, and continued to work with Zelos clients until she retired in 2025. Still, the Zelos team is regularly guided by: “What would Lou do?”

We work with passion and purpose

Our team members are experts with distinguished careers in their fields. We live by our values, which guide how we work with each other and with our clients:

  • Strategy: We use our knowledge, expertise, curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving skills to deliver thoughtful, strategic approaches. We don’t throw things together haphazardly and hope they stick.

  • Authenticity: We share our genuine perspectives in every engagement, even when doing so is difficult. We do not just “go along” without critical thought.

  • Responsibility: We are—and we teach and encourage others to be—responsible for our own decisions, actions, interactions, and use of resources. We are not wasteful. We spend our clients’ money and time as if they’re our own—thoughtfully and carefully.

  • Connectedness: We connect compassionate, caring, and attentive thinkers with our clients and colleagues for strong collaborations and results. We are not a vendor with something to sell—we’re a partner in our clients’ and colleagues’ success.

At Zelos, we work with passion and purpose because we love what we do, and it shows.

The Zelos team

Zelos brings together a dedicated full-time team and a trusted group of specialized consultants, allowing us to match each project with the right mix of skills and experience.

  • A talented and motivating facilitator, trainer, and coach

    Emily holds a master’s degree in Organizational Development and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and English. She is a certified coach from the International Coaching Federation at the ACC level and a team and leadership coach through Kickstart Your Edge. She is also a certified practitioner of the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator (MBTI, Myers & Briggs Foundation), 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team (Wiley Workplace Learning), Everything DiSC (Wiley Workplace Learning), change management (Prosci), and emotional intelligence (EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360, MHS Inc.).

  • A researcher at heart and in practice

    Elisa is a published author, with her work featured in prestigious academic outlets like the Annual Review of Organizational Behavior and Organizational Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, and Human Performance. She holds a Doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, is Smart Brevity® Communicator Certified and is an Everything DiSC® Certified Practitioner.

  • A skilled operations leader who keeps complex work moving forward

    Nate holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Howard University and is pursuing a master’s in Marketing from the University of Maryland Global Campus. He is also certified in Agile Project Management from the SCRUM ALLIANCE®.

  • A strategic leader and collaborator

    As the owner and CEO of Zelos, Stacia sets the organization’s direction and makes sure each project has the right people, resources, and support to succeed. She brings experience as a project manager, supervisor, consultant, and organizational leader across government, higher education, nonprofit, and private-sector settings. She is known for bringing clarity, creativity, and steady leadership to complex projects. 

    Stacia is a lifelong learner. She holds a Coach Approach to Leadership certificate from Coaching Out of the Box®, a Six Sigma Black Belt certification, a Master of Science in communication and information, and a bachelor’s degree in English.