Staff

Enjoying a day of snowshoeing in the Adirondacks

Margot Gold
Executive Director – North Country Healthy Heart Network
Margot Gold is the founding executive director of the North Country Healthy Heart Network, Inc. She was hired in 2000 to coordinate a one year start-up grant from the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation which was secured by Walter Becker, former CEO, Carthage Area Hospital. The grant allowed a four county network of public health agencies and hospitals to begin to address concerns over growing rates of heart disease with the hope a coordinated, multi-county effort could reverse the trend.

Since that time, Gold has overseen the organization’s growth and development. She secured the Heart Network’s first grant from the NYS Department of Health (DOH) in 2001. This grant, from the NYS Tobacco Control Program, established an innovative four county mobile tobacco cessation service to help individuals stop smoking. In accordance with a change of vision at the DOH, the Heart Network’s focus shifted in 2004 from the individual to population based approaches to support behavior change. Currently, the Heart Network, Inc. is funded by three NYS Department of Health grants and employs six highly motivated people.

Prior to her involvement with the Heart Network, Margot Gold was employed by three other nonprofit organizations in Franklin County. Beginning in the mid-1980s, she served as: Executive Director of the Adirondack Crisis Center serving teens and young adults; Southern Franklin County Outreach Coordinator for ComLinks (a community action agency); and, Instructor, North Country Community College, Human Services Program. She also served for eight years on the Board of Directors of the Adirondack Medical Center (AMC), with two years as Vice Chair of the Board.

Gold currently serves on AMC’s Ethics Committee and enjoys bread baking, vegetarian cooking, outdoor activities and being with family and friends.

Margot Gold has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from SUNY Albany. She earned a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Human Services Administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Gold is married to Stephen Erman. Their two children, Molly and Sam, were born and raised in Saranac Lake. Though currently living elsewhere, their souls are fed by their Adirondack roots.

Jamie Konkoski
Program Manager – Creating healthy Places
Jamie Konkoski grew up in the Adirondacks and graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a BA in Anthropology before being trained in community organizing as an Americorps Volunteer. Jamie has been interested in community development issues since her college studies and Americorps work. She had the opportunity to travel to India in 2003 on a Reality Tour highlighting grassroots community development programs and was a founding member of a grassroots community organization in Saranac Lake focused on promoting smart growth principles. She has served on several community advisory committees including a committee to develop a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, the Vision Concepts Advisory Committee, and most recently the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee. Jamie has been an advocate for active transportation and enhanced recreation opportunities through her service on these committees and in her work at the Heart Network managing the Eat Well Play Hard project from 2007 through 2010. In her spare time Jamie enjoys outdoor activities including rock climbing, canoeing, hiking, and skiing with her husband and 5 year-old son. Her other interests include cooking, gardening, traveling and going to music festivals and concerts.

Josh Wilson
Program Manager – Rural Action Now!
Josh joined the Heart Network team in 2009 to develop and implement the organization’s new advocacy program, Rural Action Now. Since then Josh has worked to build the capacity of local and regional partnerships to advocate for policy and environmental changes that support physical activity and healthy eating in rural communities.Prior to joining the Heart Network in 2009, Josh worked with several Adirondack organizations with a focus on advocacy, public policy and citizen science. He is the co-founder and President of Adirondack Adaptive Adventures, a non-profit organization which creates opportunities for adaptive outdoor sports for people with disabilities. Josh is an active member of the Barkeater Trails Alliance, a regional mountain bike organization, and recently joined the board of the Adirondack Ski Touring Council.A licensed NYS guide since 2001, Josh enjoys leading whitewater rafting, canoeing and backpacking trips across the North Country. He stays active in all seasons by rock climbing, backcountry snowboarding, and cycling and enjoys traveling and exploring mountains everywhere.Josh is a 5th generation North Country native who lives in Saranac Lake with his partner, step-daughter and 2 labrador retrievers. He earned a B.S. in Natural Resources Management & Policy from Paul Smith’s College.

Glenn Pareira
Program Assistant – Rural Action Now!
Glenn as been the Program Assistant for Rural Action Now since the program’s creation in 2009. He graduated in 2009 from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and holds a B.A in Political Science and a B.A. in Sociology. While in college Glenn spent three years living on the college’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus and working with their Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Studies to improve awareness of environmental issues and the overall sustainability of the Hartwick Campus. Prior to joining the Heart Network, Glenn spent four summers working in outdoor recreation and education. As a lifelong resident of the North Country, Glenn has spent plenty of time hiking, canoeing, skiing, snowshoeing, and camping throughout the Adirondacks as well as the Catskills and abroad.

Enjoying a day at Disney World

Heidi Dishman
Tobacco Cessation Specialist – North Country Tobacco Cessation Center
Heidi joined North Country Tobacco Cessation Center (NCTCC) in April 2011.  Heidi graduated with a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana PA. Recently, she worked as part of the Philanthropy Department team at Alice Hyde Medical Center helping to raise much needed funds for equipment and services in Malone. Since 2007, Heidi has served on the board of the Malone Chamber of Commerce and is also a Member of the National Ski Patrol at Titus Mountain, Malone, NY.

 

 

Brittany Harris

Nutrition Coordinator – Creating Healthy Places
Brittany Harris grew up in the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in Northern California, and moved to Kellogg, Idaho with her family in 2000. She graduated from Carroll College in Helena, Montana with a BA in Mathematics and a concentration in Biology. In Montana she volunteered as the Outreach Coordinator for Engineers Without Borders, helping raise funds for water-treatment projects in impoverished communities in Mexico and Guatemala. Since moving to the North Country in 2011, Brittany has been working closely with Fledging Crow Vegetables in Keeseville, NY, sowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, delivering, and selling Certified Naturally Grown produce. She has been working at the Saranac Lake Village Farmers Market for the past three summers, and has come to love the Adirondacks and the Saranac Lake community. In her spare time, Brittany enjoys creating art, having friends over for dinner at the farm, caring for seedlings in the greenhouse, baking cookies, drinking coffee, and exploring South America in the wintertime.