Who we are
Nexus is a relational network connecting people from different countries, contexts and professions. What we share is common desire to live as journeyers – to learn together from our life experiences. Early informal experiences with small groups of friends, together in a living room engaging with a film or book, showed us how life-giving participation in such a community could be. Over the next ten years or so, a handful of us started thinking and talking about forming an association dedicated to launching such groups around the world. We came up with the name “Nexus” (a connecting link) for what we were creating together. Over the course of a few decades have gained experience and expertise in creating friendly meeting places based on participation, mutuality and respect for personal integrity. Viewing life as a journey we seek to enrich others’ lives and allow them to add value to ours.
Beginning in 2017, we organized ourselves into an international arts non-profit, helping people create events and groups that journey together through shared encounters with books, films, poems, paintings, food, nature, etc. In the summer of 2024 we are launching the first stage of a 18 month pilot project, launching new Nexus events and groups in new places, discovering how we can continue to shape Nexus for the world that is emerging. We’re putting our simple, shareable pedagogy in the hands of all kinds of people (who don’t have to be art experts, but just curious learners), people creating journeying communities where everyone finds meaning together. The Nexus organization exists to support and network local expressions that carry their own name and shape. They connect with us because of our shared story to story pedagogy (i.e., encountering a new story together and then conversing about what this story says to our life stories), values based in mutuality, and dreams for a better world. Our small international facilitation team keeps learning from new experiments and experiences happening locally.
J Kyle Gregory is a musician and educator who teaches and plays Jazz internationally. After growing up in Bloomington, “the only cool town in the state of Indiana”, and raising a family with his wife, Kimberly, in Verona, Italy, they currently live in Beijing, China. Kyle studied at Berklee College, Indiana University, and the University of Northern Colorado, and then became a college and conservatory professor in Jazz and Classical music. He continues to perform and teach in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and also through his collaboration with Jazz Educators Abroad. In 1990 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary studying new methods for teaching improvisation. He has recorded over fifty albums, including his latest, Be Still and Know, which is available on all the major streaming platforms.
Brittany Williams is a project manager, designer, writer and poet from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s College of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design. She has a career background in interior landscape design and project management for some of the top tech companies in the Bay Area. Brittany currently works as a poet, creative writer, content creator, online event coordinator, and project manager for several organizations. She is a passionate member of the arts community and on a constant mission to find space with others who believe in the power of art to heal, help us connect, understand life and thrive.
Recent Posts
My Best Films of 2025 – from Rinus
From 2019 onward I have shared with you my list of the best films of the past year. My list contains the films that I truly care about and have communicated something to me that I continue to carry with me. They have the potential to prompt valuable discussions aligned with our Nexus key ideas. Of course, this list is limited to the ones I managed to see throughout the year. Some of the films I’ve written about during 2025. In my short introductions to each film, I’ve used parts of those longer presentations that you will find in the film section.
A Courageous Voice – Jafar Panahi
Last week the Iranian director Jafar Panahi was handed a one-year prison sentence, and a travel ban in Iran. He was at that moment in New York to receive prizes for his latest film It Was Just an Accident. He commented that he planned to return. Twice before he has spent time in prison. It was conversations with other political prisoners, telling him about violence and brutality in the prisons of the regime, that inspired him to shoot this film.
A Poem for living: The Layers by Stanley Kunitz
The thoughtful facilitator of our poetry group recently introduced us to Stanley Kunitz. I was grateful for his choice and the opportunity to meet such a profound poet. Our experience with the poet was enhanced by listening to him read his works. The combination of Kunitz’s energetic elderly voice, with its inflections and pauses, along with the imagery of the words made for an insightful discussion.