09 Aug You’re Invited: 2nd Annual Adirondack Diversity Symposium to be held Aug. 15
Attracting & Retaining Youth is Focus of 2nd Annual Adirondack Diversity Symposium
NEWCOMB, N.Y. — Most news stories about economic trends in the Adirondack Park cite surveys showing that the population is getting older and fewer. The Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council believes it can help to reverse this trend by discovering how the park’s businesses, institutions and communities can be more welcoming to a broader range of customers, clients, students and residents.
Making the Adirondack Park more attractive to youth of all backgrounds and preferences will be the focus of the Second Annual Towards a More Diverse Adirondacks Symposium, which is sponsored by the Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC) on Saturday, August 15, at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Newcomb.
More information/register for the symposium: www.esf.edu/nfi/diversity/symposium.htm
“This is our second annual workshop designed for any person, business or organization seeking to bring new visitors, residents and investors home to the Adirondacks,” said ADAC Coordinator Peter Nelson. “Participants will learn how to identify and remove the barriers that can drive away business and opportunity, and become more appealing to all.”
Organizers hope to share lessons in what motivates some of our young people to remain here to seek employment and start businesses, while others take their talents elsewhere.
“I think we are offering the opportunity to do well by doing good,” said Nelson. “You can change someone’s life forever by making them feel at home in the Adirondacks. Think of how the peace, beauty, wildlife and people of Adirondacks have enriched your own life. Imagine what you would be missing if you never came here. Better yet, by offering a warm welcome to someone who never felt welcome before, you will make new connections that benefit your life, your business and your community for years to come.”
At the one-day symposium, high school and college students, civil rights leaders, community activists, social scientists and organizations will get together on the SUNY ESF campus in Newcomb to talk about the ways to broaden diversity in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender-identity among residents and visitors to the largest park in the contiguous United States.
Discussion points will include questions such as how millenials view diversity, their needs and aspirations, what their experiences in the Park have been, or why they have not experienced the park, and how the park can be more welcoming to all youth.
ADAC affiliate organizations include: the Adirondack Almanack, Adirondack Council, Adirondack Common Ground Alliance, Adirondack Foundation, Adirondack Futures, the The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), Adirondack Park Institute, the Adirondack Research Consortium, the Central Adirondack Partnership (CAP-21), Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce, John Brown Lives!, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST), the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) Northern Forest Institute, Paul Smith’s College, Adirondack Wild, Friends of the Forest Preserve, and The Wild Center.
The ADAC was formed as an outcome of the first diversity symposium Towards a More Diverse Adirondacks in Newcomb in August 2014.
For more information:
Pete Nelson
Coordinator
Keene, NY 12942
AdirondackDAC@gmail.com
Birk Albert
Posted at 06:40h, 13 AugustInteract with rare species in the Adirondacks!! African American, Asian, Gay, or Alaskan Native such as myself. I will be on a youth panel. Listen to High school and college students speak of their experience from their unique perspectives. Free. Open to all Sat. Aug. 15th Newcomb, NY. Register (free lunch) http://www.esf.edu/diversity.