Adirondack Diversity Initiative

Nicole Hylton-Patterson became the first director of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative in December 2019.  She moved to the Adirondacks to try to make this vast and overwhelmingly white region more welcoming to people who, like her, are Black .  Advocates see the need for welcoming more diverse residents and visitors not only as a societal good, but as necessary to a tourism-dependent region that is losing population.  The Adirondack Diversity Initiative had been an all-volunteer effort until a $250,000 state grant allowed it to hire Nicky, a veteran in the field.  She uses a combination of cultural consciousness and related training for residents who can talk to neighbors, as well as developing liaisons with local governments, police deparments and school boards to address systemic racism.