Meet 2022 Tom Boothe Adirondack Intern Colby Fortin

Colby Fortin, Tom Boothe Adirondack Intern

AdkAction created the Tom Boothe Adirondack Internship Program to honor the legacy of past Board Chair Tom Boothe, who passed away unexpectedly in October 2020 at the age of 71. Tom was known for bringing friends from around the world to introduce them to the immense natural beauty of the Adirondack Park, and was particularly motivated to engage young people in the work of making a positive impact on our region’s communities.

To honor Tom’s commitment to serving the people of the Adirondacks, as well as his enthusiasm for enjoying the outdoors, the internship provides opportunities for both professional growth and recreational exploration of the region. We’re proud to introduce our second Tom Boothe Adirondack Intern: Colby Fortin.

Colby is a recent graduate (‘22) from Oberlin College with Majors in Comparative American Studies and Politics and Minors in Law and Society and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. She has formerly worked with the Oberlin Heritage Center, the Ohio Center for Relationships and Sexual Health, and the Department of Social Services in Clinton County. All of this work culminated in finishing her Senior Thesis, which won Highest Honors, that studied anti-gender-based violence zines (mini magazines) from the 1990s to the early 2020s and how they have shiftingly acted like mental health and social movement support tools. Originally from Peru, NY, Colby has always been passionate about holistic community resources, especially in rural and other underserved spaces. She is interested in learning about how NGOs with many intertwined projects and focuses like AdkAction function to address community needs holistically. 

Because of this interest, Colby is excited to be thrown into working on food security programs and community arts projects at AdkAction. This summer, in addition to supporting existing food security programs and helping plan the Keeseville Community Arts Festival, Colby will be working on a podcast project to document youth voices on topics AdkAction addresses like road salt and broadband. She is driven by the broader questions: “What are Adirondack youth thinking/ creating/ dreaming?” “When I envision the future of the Adirondacks, I see one full of art and diverse people who love this community,” she dreams. 

Outside of work, Colby is looking forward to reacquainting herself with the Adirondacks after living in Ohio and California for most of the past four years. In her application, she wrote, “In addition to advancing my career aspirations, I feel particularly called to the Tom Boothe Internship because of its dedication to the environmental exploration of the region. While I grew up in the Adirondacks, I had limited opportunities to be in the nature I love so much.” In addition to hiking and spending time in nature, Colby loves to read, dabbles in ceramics and linocut stamping, and she is learning Indonesian.

 

More content to discover

What to do with me when I’m gone

By John Culpepper, Compost for Good Under certain circumstances, stars explode in spectacular fashion. These are called supernova. It is in these massive explosions where many of the elements found in our bodies are formed. For example, every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of

Read More »

Library Buzz Program – Libraries Announced

Twenty Adirondack Libraries Selected for AdkAction’s Library Buzz Program  AdkAction is announcing two pollinator-focused programs in 2023.  In late 2022, AdkAction invited libraries across the Adirondacks to apply to AdkAction Library Buzz Program–a program that offers free Pollinator Resource Kits to local libraries to help them empower both area residents and

Read More »

6th Annual Native Plant Sale

AdkAction’s Adirondack Pollinator Project is delighted to offer its 6th Annual Pollinator-Friendly Native Plant Sale. Whether you plant a few plants or many, you will help rebuild the monarch butterfly population, attract hummingbirds, and strengthen native bee and moth populations. This year we have chosen 14 varieties of native flowering plants to

Read More »
Close