neXe |

Power in the Margins

Almost everyone can identify with being in the margins. Choosing to stand firm for personal convictions when the status quo dictates alliance with a populous stance, positions us in the margins. At other times, socio-identity markers—like cultural/ethnicity, class, gender or religious beliefs can place us at odds with the cultural zeitgeist. The margins represents those whose issue often get overlooked, and those who must grapple with personal, social and structural injustices before they can position themselves center stage. What I have come to realize is that far from being a position of weakness, there is power in the margins. In this article, I explore how tapping into that power is the basis for making use of the full complement of tools necessary to wage war against such injustices. (Check back soon for the full-length...
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Finding Your Life-Work: Connecting the Personal the Spiritual and the Professional

A while back, I picked up the book Finding Calcutta (2001) by Mary Poplin. It had been sitting on my shelf for several months untouched. I am so glad I did. In this book, Mary Poplin recounts how the two months, she spent working alongside Mother Theresa caring for the crippled, the abandoned and the dying in the streets of India taught her important lessons about meaningful work and service. It taught her how to connect her faith walk with her professional life. This book got me thinking that one of the biggest tasks each of us faces on the road to personal fulfillment and meaningful service is to connect the other dimensions of our lives to our professional calling—to make the life work connection and find our own Calcutta. So where is Calcutta and how can we find it? Calcutta represents a place of need to which we are called to serve. Calcutta is the place that challenges us often through sacrifice and struggle to fulfill our life purpose. I firmly believe that place lies at the intersection of our various socio-identities—the personal, the spiritual and the professional. And yet, surprisingly it is off the beaten path – because those who find it must embark on an intentional journey to live in opposition to normative professional expectations. It is a personal journey that begins with an interrogation of our personal, spiritual and professional selves to find the place where we are called to offer our best service. This is the makings of my own journey. Interrogating the Personal The most salient aspects of our personal identity are often the most visible markers, for example, our cultural/ethnic, immigrant identity...
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Managing your Personal Brand on Facebook

Someone once commented that I had “presence”. At the time, I had no idea what he meant. Since then I have come to understand “presence” to mean something that is distinctively you. When you enter a room, without even speaking a word, who you are communicates messages to others. That presence takes on nuanced understanding in online settings. When I first got on the social media bandwagon, I did so reluctantly. I soon realized it was the way to communicate with friends, update them about the children, send invitations and share pictures—e-mail was so yesterday. At the same time, I was getting ready to establish my business and everything I read about branding, emphasized the importance of establishing an online presence. Now even as I complete this article, I am thinking about the company brand– the logo, pictures, layout, and content. Is this article consistent with my company brand? What do I want to communicate about the “Nexe” and the owners? What is distinctive about who we were and what we do? I am a bit leery of trade books that suggest a little too much for my liking that one strategy for achieving online presence successfully is through gimmickry, for example, selecting certain font styles, colors or website layout. The online presence I hope for is one that communicates in spite of these frills. It is an authentic message that communicates personhood. This is as true for an online business as it is for one’s use of social media. It is critical to think intentionally about our social media brand– the presence that we are creating through our use of technology. Now, I admit that it took me...
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"neXe | pronounced neks"

From the Latin word nexus; the center point of various connections; the core; the act of binding together

Mission

Connections matter! We partner with clients to make valuable connections for professional and personal success. Through a collaborative effort, we make critical linkages between the conceptual thinking that undergirds program design, research design, and assessment and evaluation efforts, to create a best fit between concept, processes and expected outcomes. We also work to inspire, coach and train individuals or groups to achieve similar successes in personal and professional goal attainment and change efforts.

Who We Are

We are Kathy-Ann Hernandez and Mark Avery, a husband and wife team with a combined 40 years of service in academic and corporate settings. In 2009, we decided to become fully invested in our life work by uniting our passions, skills, and life philosophy. That intersection provided the nexus for Nexe Consulting.

What We Do

We provide our clients with exceptional service in the following areas: program design and implementation, academic and non- academic research design, creative and technical writing, program assessment and evaluation, and coaching. We are also available for speaking engagements and training workshops in any of our areas of expertise. Click on any of the images below to learn more about what we do.