Aileen Martin named to head North Country Children's Clinic

WATERTOWN — Aileen G. Martin has been selected to succeed Janice L. Charles as executive director of the North Country Children’s Clinic.

Mrs. Martin, the Children's Clinic director of operations since 2005 will be the third executive director of the organization, once she assumes her new role July 1.

Agency co-founder, Richard E. Charles served as Executive Director from 1973 until his death in 1981 and was succeeded by Janice L. Charles, who has served the agency for 27 years and will retire on June 30th.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in accounting from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1991, Ms. Martin became a prominent figure and outspoken advocate for the disadvantaged in the north country. In 1997 she was appointed executive director of the Northern Regional Center for Independent Living, a nonprofit Watertown agency that supports the rights of the disabled.

She has also served as a member of Points North Housing, an advocate for the homeless, the Jefferson Rehabilitation Center (JRC) Informed Consent Committee, and was president of the Clayton Rotary Club. She is a member of the conference committee of the Independent Living Centers in New York and the outreach advisory council of the North Country Library System.

An avid fan of archery, she competed in the International Bowhunter Organization's 3-D World Championships in 1999 in Clymer, has served as a volunteer hunter education instructor for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and has appeared on the cover of New York Fish and Game Finder in November 1994 with her 208-pound, 10-point buck.