Our Staff
Raynique Syas (she/her)
Lead Organizer
Raynique’s unique life experiences—spanning the country from her upbringing in California to her professional career in the Charleston area—have equipped her to be among the Lowcountry’s most influential community organizers. Born and raised in Watts in the historic Jordan Downs Housing Projects, Raynique developed a sense of tenacity, grit, and perseverance early on. Her large family taught her teamwork and patience, skills Raynique employs each day in her role as the lead organizer of CAJM, where she oversees a portfolio of 150 relationships with volunteers, community organizations, and stakeholders and leads an organization with hundreds of Network Members committed to addressing root causes to poverty and injustice. Raynique’s full bio
Amy Horwitz (she/her)
Administrative Assistant
Amy moved from Syracuse, NY to Charleston in the mid 1990s, working as an audiologist and volunteering with community groups including CAJM since its inception. With life-long interests in fairness and compassion, Amy was hired in 2016 and is grateful to support CAJM’s critical work building relationships and finding solutions that inspire and strengthen our community. When she’s not working, Amy enjoys walking, foraging, reading, and learning new things.
Niki Van Aller (they / them)
Senior Organizer
Niki grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia with the belief that they were responsible for helping people in their community. Even at a young age, they sensed something wrong with the sentiment – often expressed by white peers – that they should avoid certain neighborhoods that were predominantly Black or had reputations of crime. Niki’s calling to work in racial justice organizing became clear to them while attending St. Joseph’s University, where the social change movements of the 60s and 70s inspired them. For Niki, these were more than stories from a past time. “I realized that the things I was learning about in class were not just historical events,” Niki said. Niki’s full bio