Cathy Cassell, the Chief Executive Officer for Channel Marker, Inc., was recognized at Commencement 2023 with the Chesapeake College Community Service Award for her decades of behavioral health work in the service area.
Ms. Cassell shared her personal story about finding passion and fulfillment in community-based work. She encouraged the graduates to find their own fulfilling paths.
“Use your story,” Ms. Cassell told the Class of 2023. “You’ve heard mine. Work on yours and be motivated by where you have come from and where you want to go.”
Channel Marker, located in Easton, has served the tri-county communities for 40 years. Ms. Cassell has worked for Channel Marker for 32 of those years, holding a variety of impactful roles within the agency. In her current role she has overall strategic, operational, and fundraising responsibility for the organization.
Ms. Cassell said she chose a career path of service to the community, and urged the graduating students to find ways to give back to their own communities no matter what career path they choose. There is no greater reward than making a difference through service to others, she said.
“I am so proud of all of you. As you leave this part of your journey, be strong and courageous. Life will continue to bring challenges and opportunity. Have the spirit and grit to welcome the opportunity and beat the challenges,” she told the graduates. “Take in all the celebration that today has to offer. To the great class of 2023, congratulations and well done! Now continue the journey to making your own story.”
Ms. Cassell is a graduate of Shore Leadership class of 2011 and Shore Leadership 2.0 in 2019. She currently serves on the program committee for Shore Leadership and has done so since 2011. Ms. Cassell first served on the Shore Leadership Advisory Board from 2011–2017, and is now serving for a second term, which started in 2021. She was a board member of the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland (CBH) from 2016–2020, and also served on the Executive Committee for CBH.
Ms. Cassell is a strong advocate for suicide prevention and education and has worked on projects with global speaker Kevin Hines on bringing awareness and education locally and statewide.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Salisbury University and her Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland with a specialty in clinical mental health. She went on to become a licensed certified social worker.
A lifelong resident of Talbot County, Ms. Cassell lives in Easton with her husband Marty Cassell, also a clinical social worker, and their four sons. Three of her sons have attended Chesapeake College.