Brandel holds a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University and is a graduate of Warren Wilson’s MFA Program for Writers. As a public health professional, she has run an HIV prevention program in Africa, designed harm reduction strategies for intravenous drug users in Central Asia, and developed materials to help cancer patients in the U.S. make informed decisions about their treatment. She is co-author of a parenting book influenced by the RIE philosophy of infant-toddler care and is a published poet and essayist. She divides her time between Mexico and Washington, D.C. where she volunteers for the nonprofit, Insight on the Inside, which shares meditation practices to inspire and empower the incarcerated, returning citizens, people transitioning from homelessness, and all affected by poverty, aging, and illness. Brandel studied Compassion Cultivation Training with founding faculty while a fellow at Stanford University and is honored to be a certified CCT teacher.