JR Russ (he/him/his), aka Nexus in the Burning Man community, was born and raised in the traditional territory of the Pamunkey and the Piscataway, part of which many of us now call Washington, DC. His pronouns are he/him/his, and he is black and Filipino American. JR is a queer cisgender man, in several ethically non-monogamous relationships. JR was raised Catholic, and is currently spiritual but not religious. JR received his Bachelor of Arts in dance from the University of Maryland, College Park and his Master of Arts in arts management from American University. JR has been a Synetic Theater company member, Adventure Theatre’s production manager, and a Story District board member. His passion for storytelling turned into an ongoing program in the Burning Man community called the “Ten Principles Storytelling Project”, which has featured performances from Capital Fringe Festival to Black Rock City, and workshops from Regional Burns to Burning Man itself. He is currently a member of the Community Arts Team for Any Given Child DC, on the boards of Dance Place and Mischief DC, on the Grants Committee for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, as well as an Ambassador for Woolly Mammoth. Nexus also serves as one of five Regional Contacts for the DC Burning Man community. When not doing the explicitly creative work, JR spends his day in the virtual "office" at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities as a Communications Specialist. JR is stoked to center Blackness, Identity, Trauma, Community and Healing in his theatre work. He is currently a producing playwright with the third cohort of the Welders.