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A Huge Success!

ADI will be partnered with the Travel Unity Summit on October 27 & 28 in Lake Placid! 

This year's theme was

"Economic Development Through Diversity"

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Our Mission

The mission of ADI is to develop and promote strategies to help the Adirondack Park become more welcoming and inclusive of all New Yorkers, both visitors and permanent residents.  A more inclusive Adirondack Park will benefit not only the citizens of New York but the economic and political health of the Park as well.

Our Vision

ADI's long-term vision for change is based upon three cornerstones essential in diversity work: building experience, developing allies, and increasing competence. Each of these needs the other two; thus all three must be addressed simultaneously in any diversity effort.  Competence comes  largely with experience of others.  Therefore ADI supports shared experiences through its education, marketing, and youth exchange initiatives.

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Increasing competence fosters an environment where we can all become allies to each other regardless of perceived differences.  Therefore, ADI's membership and Advisory Board have expertise and diversity themselves, and ADI offers education, training, and supports diverse offerings in the arts.

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Alliances build shared experience, strength and understanding.  Therefore ADI's entire governance structure and operational model is built upon alliances and cooperative action.  Allies working together can build a more just and beautiful Adirondack community.

Brief Organizational History

ADI (formerly The Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC)) was founded as an outcome of a symposium on diversity and inclusion tha was held in New York State's Adirondack Park in 2014.  The symposium was well-attended by 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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What We Do

The Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) develops and
promotes strategies to help the Adirondack region and its nearby
communities become more welcoming and inclusive of all New Yorkers, both visitors and residents: a more inclusive Adirondacks will benefit the economic, social, cultural, and political health of the communities within.


From its founding in 2014, ADI developed an organizational structure built around equity and cooperative decision-making with over 30 affiliate members. Accomplishments include:


• Facilitating and sponsoring of diversity workshops and education sessions
• Coordinating a regional youth exchange program promoting diversity and nature
• Marketing and outreach to minorities and the LGBTQ community
• Hosting an annual symposium with over a hundred attendees
• Leadership in creating formal alliances with over three dozen organizations
• Establishing a strong advisory network from outside the Park, including recognized experts on diversity

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Our goals moving forward:


• Continue to develop and hold training sessions, workshops and symposia.
• Develop a presentation and toolkit, with key messages, based on data, to every chamber of commerce and tourism agency within and surrounding the Adirondack region.
• Outreach to diverse populations near the Adirondacks, build alliances, undertake diverse marketing initiatives and focus on the intersection between diversity, social justice and economic issues.
• Establish a Youth Committee where young people from within and outside the Adirondacks join together for shared projects, outings and team building exercises both in the Adirondacks and in urban centers. Specifically develop high school and college connections and relationships.
• Develop a plan to address diversity through the arts and cultural events in the Park.
• Develop and strengthen the Adirondack Diversity Initiative to respond to national flashpoints, increase its influence and ability to execute its mission.

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