Our Team
We have two Boards of Directors, one for Grupo Cajolá in Cajolá and one for Grupo Cajolá in North America. Each board runs each organization independently but of course there is an enormous amount of communication and coordination.
Each organization has a Coordinator, or Executive Director. Josias Andres is the Coordinator for Grupo Cajolá in Cajolá. Caryn Maxim, who traveled monthly to Cajolá from the beginning in 2005 through the beginning of the pandemic, is the Coordinator for Grupo Cajolá in North America.
Our Boards
Left to right: Sonia Velasquez, Marina Barillas, Yulisa Lopez, Analy Lucas, Flori Mencho, Claudia Lopez, Teresa Lopez, Cecilia Romero
Left to right: Ramon Huinil, Iraida Lopez, Amanda Mayer, Diana Crowder, Karen del Aguila, Briana Nichols.
Our Co-ordinators
Josias Hisaú Andres Vásquez
Coordinator of AGCC
Josias was the Vice-President of Asociación Grupo Cajolá in Cajolá until he resigned to accept the position of Coordinator. He receives a scholarship from AGCC and is studying for his Bachelor’s Degree in Auditing. I have been working in Grupo Cajolá since 2018, first as the manager of the Internet Center, then as the Coordinator of Technology and Communication until I accepted the position of Coordinator.
Caryn Maxim
Executive Director of GCNA
Caryn has been collaborating with Grupo Cajolá since 2002, first in Morristown and then by traveling to Cajolá for two weeks each month from February 2005 until the pandemic. With the progress that the group has made towards sustainability, she travels there four times a year at present. She is the Executive Director for GCNA.
Board of Directors of Grupo Cajolá in North America
Briana Nichols, President
Briana Nichols is an anthropologist, educator and activist who has been working in Guatemala since 2014. She believes in supporting communities as they imagine and actualize their own visions for dignified futures--this includes both working to ensure the rights of migrating peoples as well as the related right of non-migration. Briana has been collaborating with Grupo Cajola in Guatemala since 2018, and is honored to continue that work as the president of the board of Grupo Cajola North America.
Karen del Águila, Treasurer
Born in Guatemala and raised in NY, Del Águila is an activist who fulfills her need for tangible ties to her native land through community work with grass-roots organizations. For more than 20 years, she has worked with immigrant communities in New York City by organizing day laborers providing lifesaving information on occupational safety and health administration, labor rights and access to healthcare in the New York City area. Concurrently, she has worked in Guatemala by building projects which support concepts of sustainable and economic development, marketing, and cultural development. She has been supporting Grupo Cajolá since 2009 and is currently a Board member of Grupo Cajolá United States as Treasurer.
Mandie Mayer, Secretary
Mandie has been a member of GCNA since 2021. After traveling to Cajolá in 2018 and 2019, she wrote her college thesis on indigenous language retention in Guatemala. She enjoys being a board member because it gives her the opportunity to engage in meaningful work that supports a dignified life. After college, Mandie worked in the nonprofit industry before transitioning to a career in commercial risk management.
Diana Crowder, Member at Large
I have always had a deep need for justice and fairness and so have dedicated my life to justice for all. I have done and do this in community with such groups as the New Jersey White Lung Association, the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, May 1st Coalition, and Los Trabajadores por la Paz with the aim of empowering ourselves. From these connections I have met many Guatemalans. I have visited Cajola twice and was very impressed with the cooperative work that is being accomplished there. So when I was asked to help form a Grupo Cajola in the US I said a big yes. What I offer to the group is my organizing skills.
Ramón Huinil, Member at Large
Ramon was born in Cajolá and migrated to the U.S. in 2006. He has always been active in the community of Cajolenses in Morristown, organizing soccer tournaments, raising funds for people who are sick or who have died. He has served on the Board since 2021.
Iraida H. López, Member at Large
After learning about the work of Grupo Cajolá at a Ramapo College of New Jersey presentation, Iraida organized and led several student trips to Cajolá in the 2010s. Students worked on community projects that helped to open students’ eyes to the grim reality of the Maya mam cajolenses. Later, she continued to support Grupo Cajolá in various ways, including facilitating student involvement in Grupo Cajolá North America. As a retired professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, Iraida is interested in bringing to the attention of the larger public the colonial history of Guatemala, a history that weighs on the present, fueling migration and the separation of families. She is committed to supporting the indigenous population, long denied of agency, as they forge a future for themselves.
Board of Directors of Asociación Grupo Cajolá en Cajolá
Teresa Lopez, President
Teresa teaches in the Learning Center. She is studying for her Associates Degree in Communication and Language.
Yulissa Lopez, Vice President
Yulissa teaches in the preschool. She has her Associates Degree in Bilingual Primary School Education. She has also taught in the Learning Center.
Sonia Velasquez, Secretary
Sonia is our first master’s student, studying Child Psychology. She is the Coordinator of Quality Control in Maya Mam Weavers.
Flori Mencho, Treasurer
Flori was one of the first teachers in the preschool, where she continues to work today. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in social Linguistics. She is the author of one of the books in Mam that Grupo Cajola has published. She is working on her second book.
Analy Lucas, Member at Large
Analy weaves for Maya Mam Weavers and is the coordinator of the foot loom weavers. She has her high school degree in medicine.
Claudia Lopez, Member at Large
Claudia teaches in the Learning Cetner. She is studying for her Associates Degree in Preprimary Education. She is an amazing backstrap weaver.
Cirila Lucas
Cirila teaches in the Learning Center. She is studying for her Associates Degree in Communication and Language
Vigilance Committee:
Yohana Molina, President
Yohana works as the Financial Administrator for Grupo Cajola and is studying for her Associates Degree in English.
Marina Barillas, Secretary
Marina is a full time volunteer with Grupo Cajola, who she first met in the U.S. She has been in Cajola for 10 years. She originated the idea of the Learning Center, and now she coordinates all of the educational projects.
Cecilia Romero, Member at Large
Cecilia is the Coordinator of the Learning Center. She is studying for her Bachelor’s Degree in Pedagogy and Educational Administration