Mandi spent her post-secondary academic years studying the impacts of development on significant ecological systems — including the fragile high-alpine of the Himalaya — and exploring management in the Canadian non-profit sector. A love of wilderness, wildlife, and small mountain communities brought her and her family to the Columbia Valley, where she has lived for the past 20 years working with environmental and social NGOs. Mandi developed the award-winning Lake Windermere Project.