Senior Advisor

Mary Cassell has been a leader in education and Federal budget policy for more than 30 years. She served under five Presidents at the White House, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and before that, as a professional staff member on the House Education and Workforce Committee. She has vast institutional knowledge of the policies and practices of the Federal government including deep knowledge of U.S. Department of Education programs. As a senior advisor at Penn Hill Group, Mary assists clients with strategies for achieving their appropriations, legislative and regulatory goals.

Before retiring from OMB in 2025, Mary served as Chief of the Education Branch, the unit responsible for developing the President’s budget, legislative strategies, regulatory action and management agenda for the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to being Branch Chief, Mary was a policy analyst in the Education Branch. She shaped key decisions on a wide set of Federal education policies ranging from pre-school, K-12 education, disability policy and civil rights to vocational education, workforce development, higher education and education research. As Branch Chief, Mary oversaw the development and implementation of 13 Federal budgets, ensuring evidence-based analysis of programs and policies, teeing up decisions for the OMB Director and working to enact effective and strategic use of taxpayer dollars. During her tenure at OMB, Mary helped design presidential initiatives that sought to create universally-available pre-school; implement effective reading strategies; provide the first large-scale relief to areas impacted by natural disasters; raise academic standards and improve accountability for results; increase the size of the Pell Grant; and provide affordable, income-driven student loan repayment options. She spearheaded the first comprehensive data collection system for K-12 education, retiring dozens of duplicative data collections, and implemented reforms designed to embed date-driven and evidence-based decision-making in all U.S. Department of Education programs. She was instrumental in moving the availability of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from January 1 to October 1 of the prior year to ensure students have access to all available funding options before choosing a college. Mary helped stand up COVID-19 relief programs across two administrations and helped reform Title IX regulations. Prior to working at OMB, Mary served as professional staff for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, helping to authorize the landmark Improving America’s Schools Act and School-to-Work legislation.

In a volunteer capacity, Mary serves as the President of the Board of Directors for Shared Horizons, a pooled special-needs trust that helps low-income people with disabilities preserve their government benefits and develop sustainable financial support for their life-care plans. Mary also enjoys traveling with her husband, including in their 1984 Vanagon pop-up camper, and playing drums, hopefully without disturbing the neighbors too much.

Mary received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and her Master of Public Policy degree from Johns Hopkins University. 

You can reach Mary at mcassell@pennhillgroup.com.