Nicole Hylton-Patterson (Photo provided)

SARANAC LAKE — The Adirondack Diversity Initiative has hired its first director.

The Adirondack North Country Association announced this week that Nicole Hylton-Patterson of the Bronx will take on the leadership position for the Initiative, which aims to make the Adirondack region a more welcoming and inclusive place for residents and visitors.

Hylton-Patterson, acting director of a Westchester County college’s social justice center, will begin serving as ADI’s diversity director in December. She will be based at ANCA’s office in downtown Saranac Lake.

“I am deeply excited to be taking on this role with the Adirondack Diversity Initiative,” Hylton-Patterson said. “As someone who understands the challenges facing spaces that are perceived as lacking aspects of human diversity, I look forward to working with Adirondack communities and New York state.”

New York state is helping pay for the position. This April, the state Legislature and governor allocated $250,000 to ADI from the Environmental Protection Fund, which comes from a portion of real estate transfer taxes. The money went to ADI though ANCA, which said at the time it planned to use the funds to hire a coordinator.

Established in 2015, the ADI has been, up to now, a volunteer-run collaboration of organizations and individuals who develop and promote strategies to help the Adirondack Park become more welcoming and inclusive to all New Yorkers, including visitors, seasonal residents and permanent residents.

ANCA Executive Director Kate Fish said, “We could not be more excited about this new hire. Nicky possesses the experience and passion for diversity and inclusion work that is critical to achieving the ADI’s goals.”

Born in Jamaica, Hylton-Patterson spent her formative years in northern Norway as part of a gifted child program. She has 20 years of experience leading activities and programs geared toward advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition to her current role as acting director of the Mary T. Clark Center for Religion and Social Justice at Manhattanville College, she served as program coordinator for the college’s Center for Inclusion. She has also instructed and coordinated programs in Arizona, Syracuse and Elmira that focus on race and gender studies, justice, diversity and advocacy.

Hylton-Patterson holds multiple degrees ins psychology, philosophy and pan-African studies. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Afro-LGBTQI justice through Arizona State University.

“The opportunity to expand our understanding of the region and the way we welcome and celebrate differences is one that requires a willingness to first make ourselves vulnerable,” she said. “Yet it is only when we see ourselves for who we are that we can ask the same of others. I’m looking forward to putting these principles into action in my new role in the Adirondacks.”

Adirondack Council Conservation Director Raul “Rocci” Aguirre said his group has been looking forward to the ADI hiring a full-time director since its first major symposium in Newcomb in 2014.

“What was once an all-volunteer effort focusing on local diversity, equity and inclusion challenges will now have the coordination and direction needed to move these important issues forward in the North Country,” he said. “Nicky is an outstanding person who will make an impact immediately.”