Mary Edmond
SVP CDAO
Children's Health
Mary Edmond is the Senior Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Children’s Health, where she leads the organization’s enterprise data, analytics, and AI transformation. She drives a data‑partnered culture, accelerates innovation, and delivers insights that advance strategic and operational excellence across the system.
Mary began her career in academia as a health services researcher at the University of Georgia, contributing to three longitudinal behavioral health studies funded by multi‑million‑dollar NIH grants. She later translated her expertise in statistical methodology and the scientific method into leadership roles in pediatric care and Medicaid management, bringing rigor and evidence‑based decision‑making to complex healthcare environments.
At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, she led the Advanced Analytics team, guiding data science and analytics initiatives that informed system‑wide decisions. Her team’s work included developing predictive models for suicide risk in the emergency department and no‑show risk in ambulatory clinics. She then joined Cityblock Health, a $5.7B value‑based care startup, where she led teams of healthcare analysts and medical economists to identify opportunities to improve care delivery and support innovation in care models.
Mary joined Children’s Health in 2022 as Vice President of National Excellence Strategy. In this newly created function, she established the strategic vision, team structure, processes, and performance measures that enabled the organization to advance its national standing. Through cross‑functional collaboration, her team contributed to a six‑position improvement in Children’s Health’s U.S. News & World Report ranking – the closest the system has come to the top 10 list.
When Mary is not working, she loves to travel, paint, and cook for friends and family.
Learn more about the Dallas CDAO community here.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
I lead with empathy, drive innovation through curiosity and collaboration, and model accountability to build trust and deliver meaningful results.
What is the greatest challenge CDAOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
Our biggest challenge is change management as we embark on a three-year, full-scale data & AI platform modernization. We are addressing this through meaningful partnerships and consistent, empathy-forward communication.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CDAO?
Partnerships, continual evolution and improvement.
How do you measure success as a leader?
Adoption & Engagement, Impact on Performance & Outcomes, Data Trust & Reliability, and Speed to Insight
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