Judi completed her Bachelor of Arts, Honours at Okanagan University College. She continued her studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan completing her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration of Positive Psychology. After successfully defending her thesis, she enrolled at Coaching and Leadership International to become an accredited power coach.
Judi has been involved in happiness research since 2004 looking at what makes children happy. Her Master’s thesis carried on in this same direction finding that spirituality was related to children’s happiness – in particular, having meaning and purpose in one’s life was related to happiness. As she was preparing to defend her thesis, she was diagnosed with cancer. She will be forever grateful to her supervisor Prof. Mainemer for encouraging her to study Positive Psychology as she was able to apply her knowledge to her own journey.
Judi is also a member of Toastmasters International and has completed both her Competent Communicator and Competent Leadership manuals. She has presented at conferences in New Delhi, India; Washington, DC; and Vancouver, BC. She has also spoken to many community groups on her research and as a person who has been through cancer twice. Judi has been published in the Journal of Happiness Studies. She has also written for Beyond 50 Magazine and Welcome to Kelowna’s Creating Courage Blog. She is a proud member of Kelowna Ogopogo Rotary club and a Paul Harris Fellow.