Cathy Spensley
Division Director, Senior Services
Cathy Spensley, MSW, LCSW, has been a staff member of Felton Institute since 2006, and Felton’s Senior Division Director since 2008, overseeing programs that serve over 5000 seniors a year in geriatric mental health, aging services, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and older adult workforce development and engagement programs.
Catherine Spensley
Mid-career, Cathy pursued a new direction into social services, after caregiving for a parent and deciding to work in the field of aging. She returned to school to obtain a Masters in Social Work, with a specialization in gerontology, at U.C. Berkeley.
Previously Cathy worked for an educational nonprofit that bridges agriculturalists and environmentalists through the common goal of developing and disseminating K-12 science-based curriculum, as well as a hospitality industry specialist, and a professional writer and editor. She has lived and worked in Rome, Italy and in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.
At Felton Institute, Cathy develops and leads a large team of program managers and is an active change agent involved in a number of national and local advisory boards and workgroups. Cathy earned her BA in Communications from American University in Washington, DC.
“There is a dual stigma in our culture with aging and mental health both. So our folks suffer from that and we are there to be advocates.”