Christy Smith
Director
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Vital and Health Statistics Data Analysis
Building bridges through data stories. Since childhood, when she made stories out of basic addition, Christy has been building stories with numbers. As a high school teacher, the story was about sharing her joy of algebra with Topeka youth. Working with student success data at Washburn University she told the story of how students progressed through their collegiate careers. Currently she supports the Kansas public health story through vital and heath data and statistical reporting. Through each of these venues the data story brings realities to light that help policy makers recognize deficiencies and strengths, bringing together people from local, county and state entities.