Maine Island Trail Association Names Ben Dougherty as Executive Director

Dougherty becomes MITA’s fourth executive director in its 36-year history

The Maine Island Trail Association announced today that they have named Ben Dougherty as the organization’s new executive director. Dougherty succeeds Doug Welch, who served in the role for 17 years and shared in February that he would be stepping down in 2024.

Dougherty, who was born and raised on the coast of Maine, most recently served as CEO/head of school for The Island School on Eleuthera in The Bahamas. Overall, he brings over 20 years of experience in outdoor and experiential education that began with guiding multi-day kayak trips for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School from 2002-04.

“I am extremely honored to become MITA’s next executive director,” said Dougherty. “I believe in the transformative power of the outdoors to enhance the lives of all people, and the Maine Island Trail is an outdoor resource like no other. I look forward to leading and building on MITA’s continuous work in stewarding and celebrating the Trail and ensuring its accessibility for everyone along the Maine coast.”

Dougherty graduated from the University of Montana with a BS in forest ecology and wildlife biology, and holds a M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his time at The Island School, he was the head of upper school at The Derryfield School in Manchester, NH from 2014-20.

“Ben’s experience in education, fundraising, and outdoor leadership is extremely compelling, and I can speak for MITA’s entire board of trustees when I say that we are absolutely delighted to welcome him here,” said Board Chair Rob Nichols. “MITA has made so much progress in recent years while staying close to our mission, and Ben is without a doubt the right person to lead us into our next chapter.”

Since 2020, MITA has seen an increase in total members, the purchase of a storage and maintenance facility in Freeport for their expanding fleet of work boats, and a 196% increase in business sponsors. MITA volunteers performed over 7,300 hours of stewardship work in 2023, removing thousands of pounds of marine debris from Maine’s islands.