In this alumni profile, we interview Sydney Bradford Edwards, J.D., former Capstone Healthcare Analyst.
Sydney Bradford Edwards loves a challenge. Rather than play just one sport in high school, for instance, she was a year-round athlete in basketball, volleyball, and track at the Madeira school in Virginia. “The value of what I learned there has not stopped,” she says.
Sydney brings that same drive and versatility to Kyruus, where she is Vice President of Regulatory and responsible for developing, monitoring, and executing corporate regulatory and compliance initiatives. The physician-founded and led company provides a data-driven approach to patient-provider matching and scheduling and enables her to tap into her deep institutional knowledge of Medicare policy and take advantage of her extensive experience in healthcare financial management, medical billing, and reimbursement.
Looking ahead in healthcare, broadly, federal regulations are key to steering development in patient access to providers and to improving price transparency. “It’s rewarding to see this change that needs to happen,” she says. “States are really stepping up and have a more consumer-action focus. States are taking federal legislation and codifying it and implementing that.
Before joining Kyruus, Sydney was Vice President of Healthcare Policy Research at Capstone, advising private equity firms on the impacts of regulations on healthcare organizations. “I still use the regulatory and compliance skills developed and honed at Capstone, and a curiosity,” she says. “Now have a view of partnerships to more strategic thinking in the pipeline for matters like privacy and security compliance, sell-side reporting and due diligence, and thinking in terms of the likelihood of headwinds and tailwinds.”
“I still use the regulatory and compliance skills developed and honed at Capstone, and a curiosity.”
After graduating from Hampton University and the Texas Southern University School of Law, Sydney started her career as Assistant Counsel for the US Senate Sergeant at Arms Office, whose purview included all Senate offices as well as subsidiary offices and bungalows, Post Office, and Architect of the Capital. “The coolest thing was walking up the steps of the Capitol going to work every morning. It always reminded me that this is a real civic duty,” she says.
Her ADA compliance work in this office segued to deeper work and she accepted a position as an Attorney Adviser for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she investigated and audited healthcare fraud in Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal agency programs.
Sydney’s team spirit now extends to Chief, a private network for senior women leaders to effect change. “It’s really about cross-pollinating support and ideas across all industries and counts among its members women executives,” she explains. Candidates must be vice president level or higher to qualify for membership. “The women are scrappy. They have climbed their industry ladders and share a common story of strength.”
Chief also focuses on initiatives such as global giving, reproductive rights, and girls and young leaders. The organization is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion for those who have been underrepresented. “As much as it is a network, access to speakers, clubhouses across the US, it’s also a positive force for development,” Sydney says.
“There’s community in DC and chances to expand leadership opportunities in issues like global health equity.”
“There’s community in DC and chances to expand leadership opportunities in issues like global health equity,” she says. “It’s very satisfying.”
See more Capstone alumni profiles here.
