Patrick Nolan was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His mother was a high school teacher in Detroit Public Schools and his father worked in the auto industry. He graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy with a degree in History.
He and his daughter Eva have called Las Cruces Home for the past ten years. Patrick loves to ride bikes and trail running. He loves to take his daughter and dog out on hikes to the monument.
Patrick brings thirteen years of organizing experience, most recently six years with the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico (AFTNM). With AFTNM Patrick worked with school employees across the state of New Mexico as they advocated for strong public schools. Patrick’s work with American Federation of State and County and Municipal employees took him to several western states, Alaska, Utah, Colorado, and Washington. Public lands play a pivotal role in all of these states and their economies, much as they do in New Mexico. The extensive time working in these states opened Patrick’s eyes to the benefit of protecting and advocating for Public Lands. With them he worked with folks tasked with protecting and maintaining public lands on state county and city levels. The love they had for public lands helped Patrick learn the value of public lands. His experience building coalitions across the diverse state of New Mexico will serve him well as we advocate for Public Lands.
Patrick is looking forward learning more about the monument and all it has to offer our community. Our new executive director is excited about working with Friends of Organ Mountains Desert Peaks and looking forward to the vital mission of protecting our public lands.
Patrick’s first day on the job will be February 26, 2018. The Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks board and staff looks forward to working with Patrick to continue to protect, restore and educate the community about the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and public lands. Join us in welcoming Patrick to Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks.
If you would like to contact Patrick, you can email him at: director@organmtnfriends.org.