About ADI
Mission
Existing at the intersection of environmental and transformational justice, the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) works to make the Adirondacks a welcoming and inclusive place for both residents and visitors while ensuring a vital and sustainable Adirondack Park for future generations.
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Tamara Jolly
Community Initiatives Manager
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Tiffany Rea-Fisher
Director
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Melanie Reding
Deputy Director
A message from our team
Welcome
At the heart of any successful organization lies a deep commitment to inclusion, where every individual feels welcomed and valued for who they are. As a team, we believe that fostering a sense of belonging is not just a goal, but a responsibility. When people are seen, heard, and appreciated, they can fully contribute their unique perspectives and talents. Diversity is our strength, but it is our intentional embrace of that diversity that empowers us to thrive together.
Creating an environment where everyone feels they belong allows us to harness the true potential of our collective effort. It sparks creativity, nurtures innovation, and deepens our connection to one another. More than just a tourist destination, we are a community, bound by our shared commitment to respect and inclusivity. Welcoming others and fostering belonging is how we ensure that our doors and hearts remain open to all.
How ADI works
ADI’s operating philosophy honors the lived experiences of members of the community in all aspects of our work. This stems from our belief that communities must play a central role as actors and stakeholders in articulating, facilitating, mobilizing and executing efforts that advance justice.
Our program interventions seek to mobilize transformational change in the Adirondack North Country region. Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) work focuses on building culturally conscious communities, businesses, and organizations by expanding cultural and critical consciousness around issues of systemic racism and structural oppression. We empower communities with the tools and strategies needed to take action, while expanding access to unique Adirondack opportunities for historically marginalized groups.
ADI exists as the only program of its kind in the region. It is the result of unprecedented bipartisan support at the state level and endorsement by more than 40 community agencies across the Adirondack North Country. Coalition building, mobilizing our communities, and community outreach is at the core of ADI’s work philosophy for creating a vital and sustainable Adirondacks. Working with allied organizations and recruiting and training community members, ADI has a large and increasing network across the Adirondacks and broader New York. Working with community members, local organizations and regional stakeholders, ADI creates tools, strategies and interventions that reduce the impact of the legacies of systemic racism and structural oppression that continue to plague our nation and the Adirondack Park region impacting those who are the least well off politically, economically and socially. Each of our initiatives was born out of Adirondack constituencies identifying long standing issues and needs and engaging members of the community directly in the solutions.
Our approach
We aim to make a meaningful impact at every level—individual, local, regional, and beyond. Our approach will continue to adapt and evolve in response to the needs of our ever-changing world.
ADI will
- Prioritize initiatives that support historically marginalized communities
- Collaborate with agencies, towns, communities, and residents
- Equip individuals and organizations with tools and resources to act as change agents in their communities
- Provide support to enable communities to cultivate and drive their own transformation
- Assist businesses in creating a more welcoming and belonging environment
- Engage in difficult and challenging conversations to encourage reflection & action
- Challenge and disrupt oppressive systems & practices
ADI will not
- Oversee or police individual behaviors or actions
- Force our work on communities that are not ready to engage in these efforts
3 People 7 Areas of Diversity 14 Counties
The ADI Team, currently comprised of three members, is responsible for addressing a broad range of issues, across an extensive territory. Our small-but-mighty team is tasked with a significant endeavor and committed to doing our best to meet the demands of this important regional work.
Our history
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2014
Toward a More Diverse Adirondacks
Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) originated from the outcome of a 2014 symposium entitled, Toward a More Diverse Adirondacks, held at the Adirondack Interpretive Center at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Newcomb, NY. This well-attended symposium included attendance and participation from a broad swath of residents, activists, educators, and community leaders, who collectively gave the organizers two guiding imperatives:
- The Adirondack region should be welcoming to and inclusive of everyone.
- The Adirondack region should be relevant to and supported by an increasingly diverse New York State and American population.
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2015
ADI begins its work
Upon functioning as an entity in 2015, ADI immediately began its work toward making the Adirondacks a more welcoming and inclusive place. Since then, ADI has designed and directed many outreach programs, including, but not limited to:
- Establishing formal alliances with nearly two dozen leading organizations in the Adirondack region.
- Building a strong advisory network from outside the Park, including recognized experts on diversity.
- Consulting on marketing and outreach to minorities and the LGBTQ community.
- Holding multiple diversity workshops and education sessions.
- Creating a bi-directional youth exchange program.
- Establishing an annual symposium.
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2019
State funding, and a home at ANCA
The State of New York awarded a $250,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Fund, to be managed by the Department of Environmental Conservation, to support the Initiative in 2019. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) was nominated by the ADI Core Team and selected by the State to oversee the grant and the program.
ADI is now based at ANCA’s office in Saranac Lake. As home to the ADI team, ANCA supports the Initiative’s growth and works closely with ADI staff to center diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging across all of our program areas.
Our team
Staff
Tamara Jolly
Community Initiatives Manager
tjolly@adirondack.org
518-891-6200 x102About Tamara
Tamara serves as the Community Initiatives Manager for the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, where she brings together her expertise in biology, ecology, teaching, and DEI to foster more inclusive and resilient communities in the Adirondacks. She is a passionate advocate for making nature accessible and inclusive for everyone. Tamara has confronted the challenges of exclusion in outdoor spaces, fueling her mission to broaden access and foster a sense of belonging in nature for marginalized communities.
Tamara fell in love with the Adirondacks after taking a sabbatical from teaching high school science in Baltimore City to attend the SUNY ESF Ranger School, where she was honored to graduate as valedictorian. When she is not working, you will find her outdoors birding, soaking up the arts, or adventuring with her husband and daughter on hiking trails, at campsites, and in everyday moments of joy. Recently relocated to Troy, NY, the family also treasures time on their property outside of Star Lake, NY, a place that continues to deepen her connection to the North Country she loves.
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Lucienne Nicholson
Facilitator, independent contractor
About Lucienne
Lucienne serves as an independent contractor with ADI. She serves as a facilitator for ADI's Sustaining BIPOC Leadership retreats and is working with our Emerging Stewards Initiative. Lucienne believes that a relationship with nature is essential for all persons; the equitable access to the outdoors for children, families, and communities of people of color in lower socioeconomic standing, is a way to improve the physical, mental and spiritual health of vulnerable populations.
Core Team
ADI is guided by our Core Team: A diverse group of committed volunteers who are integrated into their communities as leaders and change agents.
Rocci Aguirre
Executive Director, Adirondack Council
Cali Brooks
President & CEO, Adirondack Foundation
Gerald Delaney
Executive Director, ADK Park Local Government Review Board
Elizabeth Cooper
Former Executive Director, ANCA
Paul Hai
Associate Director of SUNY ESF’s Adirondack Ecological Center
Jen Kretser
Director of Climate Initiatives, Wild Center
Kelly Metzgar
Executive Director of Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance
Temnit Muldowney
Elementary School Teacher, Saranac Lake
Pete Nelson
Educator/Advocate
Martha Swan
Director, John Brown Lives!
Our partners
ADI's partner organizations currently include many of the leading civic, educational, and environmental groups in the Adirondacks and surrounding area. Partners contribute resources and expertise to ADI projects and programs they are passionate about. These partners have also assisted with funding, sponsorship, office space, marketing, media, training facilities, and more.
- Adirondack Almanack
- Adirondack Council
- Adirondack Experience
- Adirondack Foundation
- Adirondack Mountain Club
- Adirondack North Country Association
- Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance
- Adirondack Park Institute
- Adirondack Research Consortium
- Adirondack Wild
- Camp Dudley & Camp Kiniya
- Camp Sagamore
- Clarkson University
- Cloudsplitter Foundation
- Common Ground Alliance
- Creative Healing Connections
- Eagle Island Camp
- John Brown Lives!
- Lake Placid Institute
- The Nature Conservancy, Adirondack Chapter
- North Country Community College
- North Country School
- Northern Lights School
- Paul Smith's College
- Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST)
- Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce
- SUNY-ESF Northern Forest Institute
- SUNY Potsdam
- SUNY Canton
- The Wild Center
- Unitarian Universalist of Saranac Lake
- Union College
Job opportunities
Looking to move to the region or make a change? Check this page regularly for a selection of job openings at ADI, ANCA or our partner organizations.
For more information about openings and application deadlines, please contact the listing business or organization.
A program of ANCA
ADI is a program of ANCA, a regional nonprofit that uses innovative strategies for food systems, clean energy, small businesses, and equity and inclusion with the goal of building prosperity across northern New York.
Questions about giving go to ANCA, ADI’s home organization.