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Speakers Bureau

Does your organization need a speaker?

The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum offers a wide variety of outreach programs! Each program is presented by a museum professional and includes illustrations to enhance the program. Please contact the individual speaker directly — contact information is included in each program description. A minimum of 10 people are required to book a presentation. Please note that a mileage fee at the current IRS reimbursement rate per mile will be charged for programs outside of Stark County in addition to the indicated program fee.

Kimberly Kenney

Executive Director

Kim Kenney graduated summa cum laude from Wells College in Aurora, NY with a major in American history and minor in creative writing. She earned her Master of Arts degree in History Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Kim became Curator of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in October 2001 and was promoted to Executive Director in 2019.

She is the author of nine books, including Exploring the American Presidency through 50 Historic Treasures, Stark County Food:  From Early Farming to Modern Meals (with co-author Barb Abbott of Canton Food Tours) and Murder in Stark County.  Her work has appeared in The Public Historian, the journal of the National Council for Public History; White House History, the journal of the White House Historical Association; The RepositoryThe Boston GlobeAviation History; and the literary magazine Mused.

Kim has appeared on The Daily ShowFirst Ladies: Influence & Images, and Mysteries at the Museum.  Her program “The 1918 Influenza Pandemic” was featured on C-SPAN’s series American History TV. She is a board member of the Ohio Local History Alliance and Friends of Canton City Parks & Recreation.  She also serves on the City Landmark Commission for the City of Canton.

Ally Carlson

Director of Education

Allyson Carlson graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2011 with her bachelor’s in Middle Childhood Education, and completed her Master’s of Library and Information Science concentrating in Museum Studies from Kent State University in 2017. After spending a few years in the classroom, Ally got a part time job as a history docent at the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum in 2015. In 2019, Ally took over the Museum’s membership program in addition to her Education Department duties, and in 2020 she became the Director of Education and Membership.

Lynette Reiner

Science Director

Lynette Reiner graduated from the University of Akron with a double major of Comprehensive Social Studies and Interdisciplinary Anthropology.  She received her master’s degree in Zoology from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio. She was an intern at the Summit County Historical Society, in Akron, where she worked on preservation and archiving artifacts. She interned at the Jewish Community Center in Akron, teaching history and religion. She was an active volunteer at the Akron Zoo in animal interpretation and care. She participated at the Fort Laurens Flux Gate dig, with the Ohio Historical Society. She worked in the field of science at Inventure Place, in Akron. Before becoming Science Director, she was Discover World Manager at the McKinley Museum.

Lynette Is an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist, Certified by Ohio State University. She is a certified Projects Wild, Aquatic, and Growing up Wild Facilitator. She is the educational chair of The Nimishillen Creek Watershed Partners and Green Energy of Ohio partner. Lynette currently teaches 2 certificate-granting online courses in zoology through Udemy.com and Eliademy.com. Lynette is board president and co-founder of Oceans Ohio Inc. a local phenology leader, and graduate of the Ohio Watershed Academy.

Mark Holland

Archivist

Mark Holland is an optimist.  He believes in a world where people help each other, and those people work as a team to inspire the community to come together for the common good.

Mark was inspired to love history by his grandfather when Mark captured him on his portable cassette recorder telling the story of Mark’s Great, Great Grandfather who walked from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Osnaburg (East Canton) to bring his family to Ohio.  Mark’s mother and father would continue to inspire him to become interested in history by taking the family on trips that his mother would call “making a study of Ohio!”

Mark grew up in North Canton and graduated from Hoover High School.  As the Archivist of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum Mark inspires people to question everything and works alongside a team of 23 volunteers in the Ramsayer Research Library to find the answers to these questions.  

Learning, teaching, volunteering, and helping people reach their full potential are ideals that drive Mark.