Mary Lynn VanTassel is IWK Health's Executive Lead, Health System Sustainability, and is accountable for the development, translation, and implementation of IWK Health’s sustainability strategy aligned with provincial transformation and IWK Health strategic priorities. Mary Lynn has over 28 years’ experience in finance and operations. She has been with IWK Health since 2013 in varying financial and operational roles with increasing responsibilities, most recently as Director, Financial Services & Treasury (2016-2023) and Acting Chief Operating Officer (2023-2024). Prior to joining the IWK, she spent 12 years in various financial and operational leadership roles with McInnes Cooper.
Mary Lynn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, with a major in accounting, from St. Francis Xavier University. She earned her Chartered Accountancy (CA), now Chartered Profession Accountancy (CPA) designation in 1999 while working at Grant Thornton LLP. It was at Grant Thornton LLP where her love for IWK Health began, as she was assigned to IWK Health's annual financial statement audit.
Mary Lynn has expanded her skills through several certificate programs, including: Sustainability and ESG from CPA Canada; Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and Psychological Safety from the University of New Brunswick.
Outside of her career, Mary Lynn has supported her community through involvement with minor hockey and at her children's schools. She is currently a Board Member and Secretary of the Nova Scotia Chapter of FMI, an association which provides professional development opportunities to members of the public sector. She is also a representative on the Governance & Nominating Committee of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) NS. Mary Lynn and her husband, Bruce, have two sons and a dog.
