by 
Executive Director | Mount Desert Island Historical Society
Raney Bench is executive director for the MDI Historical Society in Maine and serves on the board of the New England Museum Association. She has worked in the museum field for over 20 years and is an author and public speaker focused on the relevance of local history in building community. Bench has a BA in Native American History and a MA in Museum Studies from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her work leading climate change collaborations has been published in several books and blogs, and has won national leadership awards in history from the American Association for State and Local History.
