Mandy Fabel

Mandy, thank you for your willingness to participate in this interview! To kick it off, can you tell us a little bit about your background and what inspired you to get into developing leaders of Wyoming?

I graduated from the UW College of Business in 2010 with an MBA. I had a graduate assistant position with the Outdoor Program and during the summers I had been working for NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) out of Lander as well. I decided to pursue that line of full time. I lead dozens of backcountry courses centered around hiking, rock climbing, and skiing. I also worked in their research and custom education departments helping design courses for the Naval Academy and businesses.

From there, I decided to work my way into the nonprofit sector with the Wyoming Community Foundation. I learned a lot about fundraising as well as about Wyoming, and I got to meet some wonderful people. I went through Leadership Wyoming as a participant in 2016-2017. When an opportunity came up to apply for the Executive Director position a year later, I decided to apply. I was selected for the position and feel like I sort of stumbled into my dream job.

It's such a perfect combination of connecting with people, helping individuals grow personally and develop in their profession, and also learning about and building a future for Wyoming.

You mentioned that you graduated in 2010 with your MBA, what made you decide to get your MBA?

Like most students coming out of undergrad, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I went to school in the greater Los Angeles area, and I knew I didn't want to stay in a highly populated area. I started looking at graduate schools and because I had had an experience in Wyoming through NOLS, I decided to give that a try.

Along with the graduate assistant position I received through the Outdoor Program, I was very attracted to the small classroom size and personalization of the UW MBA. I knew that I would learn a great deal and establish some wonderful connections in Wyoming.

Going back to the Leadership Wyoming aspect. What makes Leadership Wyoming unique as opposed to other leadership programs?

The most unique aspect to Leadership Wyoming is it is a cohort experience. Unlike a training where you may come home with one or two ideas to implement, Leadership Wyoming is about growing yourself personally and your connections at the same time.

Relationships develop over the course of those nine months, starting with a room full of strangers in August. By graduation in May those strangers are hugging and forever connected to each other’s lives.

A few other states have a statewide leadership program, but I think Wyoming is particularly unique because of the unity we feel as a state for all the same reasons that one university really feels like a connecting point for the state.

I have met so many people, especially at events like the Governor’s Business Forum, who say, “Oh yeah, I went through Leadership Wyoming” or, “I know this person because of Leadership Wyoming” and you know those connections that people make, it's just amazing. The types of people that you meet from across the state and in every county. Do you take someone from every county?

The pride our alumni feel is very real and we hope it is something they can carry through the rest of their career. Our selection process focuses on creating a diverse group of people. We do look at geographical diversity, but it is not a prescribed formula as far as how many people are selected from each community or county. A lot of it depends on how many people apply from an area or industry, and we are always working to create a diverse group.

What advice would you give to those young professionals that are interested in looking into a leadership program like Leadership Wyoming? What steps should they take to make the most out of that experience?

Leadership Wyoming is accessible to anyone who wants to better themselves and give back to the State of Wyoming. It's not just for young professionals. Diversity of perspective adds so much value. I think that also plays into the second part of that question, which is “how do you get the most out of it?” It’s about learning from people who are walking through different chapters of life or who have been where you are, but now have a different perspective. The example I always like to give is a couple of years ago we had a young professional and a retired surgeon both from Cheyenne. They carpooled to the sessions together and had some incredible conversations.

I think that is how people get the most out of the program, is just being open.

I know you are very outdoorsy, but what are some of your favorite things about Wyoming and some of your favorite things to do in Wyoming?

I love spending time outside in Wyoming, so our activities change by the season. We enjoy rock climbing and mountain biking, and dirt biking in the summer. In the winter, pretty much all of our time (and money!) goes to snowmobiling. I am actually a sponsored rider for Polaris, a snowmobile manufacturer, and we really enjoy getting out as much as possible when we can.

We just had a son in August, so we are figuring out what adventuring as a family of three looks like, but it's been a lot of fun so far.

Talk about the overall unity of Wyoming. What's your favorite part of that?

I like to think that the saying “Wyoming is a small town with long streets” does still ring true. I think we're seeing at all levels of political discourse and friendship that hard conversations are getting harder to have. We like to think we're protected from that in Wyoming, but there are still plenty of examples. My hope is that our small town nature helps us hold onto dignity and respect as it is being disregarded elsewhere.

As Tom Scott, a mentor of mine, used to say, we have to learn to “disagree without being disagreeable.” This is an important skill and you have to practice.

Does, Leadership Wyoming have a code of ethics or a set of guiding principles that you all use for decision making? Is there a set of guiding principles that you teach your students, the people that are going through the program?

We have a vision and mission statement for Leadership Wyoming. And then what we do with each cohort is let them set their own class norms and expectations and this is where a lot of the ethics conversation comes into play. A lot of the tenets of the Daniels Fund Initiative are ones that people bring to the table; wanting to have respect for each other, leaving space for conversations to happen without judgment, truly listening to what somebody has to say and being fair. These are all things that the class usually brings to the table and says, “we want to hold each other accountable to this standard” and it's pretty neat that they do.

Can you tell me a little bit about the culture of Leadership Wyoming? I guess it probably does change a little bit with each cohort, but overall how you go about developing the culture of doing the right thing.

When I took over as the Executive Director and I was pretty young, often one of the youngest people in the room. Gaining the respect and trust of others through challenging situations took time and competence. I also realized quickly in this job that people are always watching the leader for what they do and often what they don’t do.

Sometimes it can feel like a high standard to have 40 leaders watching you and evaluating you. At the end of the day, I'm appreciative of that because being held to a high standard will almost always lead to a better outcome. It’s not necessarily about being perfect, it’s more about being honest, transparent, and building trust.

On those occasions when there are integrity issues that arise, how do you hold those leadership students accountable? You mentioned that the class holds them accountable, but as far as the organization, is that something that you've had to have a tough conversation with some students about?

I think in any organization, there are always going to be challenges or situations where two people experience a situation through different perspectives. I have learned over time to be patient in drawing conclusions. Sometimes a story that I think developed is not the story that somebody else has seen or the way that they're viewing the situation. To be patient, ask questions, and to listen are some of my most valuable lessons in these situations. On the flip side, sometimes when you are certain you have all of the information you simply have to make the difficult decision or have the hard conversation and move on.

That's awesome. Spoken like a wonderful leader, Mandy.

Easier said in words than done. I will I'll be honest I have had times where my stomach was in knots going into a conversation or important decision. Those are the moments it is all the more important to have integrity.

How do you give back to the Lander community, and why is making a difference important to you?

I really enjoy being involved in my community and across the state as well. I'm really involved in Rotary as the Treasurer to our local Lander Rotary Club. I also am part of a nonprofit organization called Kindness Wyoming, which was founded out of Leadership Wyoming.

Just last month was Random Acts of Kindness Week, and we distributed 500 different kindness kits that went to schools, businesses, families, and to about 25,000 students. That's been a really fun organization to come and get to be part of and just sprinkle a little fairy dust of fun and kindness around. I've been on a few other boards, but that those are probably the two I’m most passionate about.

How do you give back to the Lander community, and why is making a difference important to you?

We are in such an interesting time in our culture with coming out of COVID. Our priorities have been rearranged and scrambled, whether intentionally or unintentionally. I think there's a lot of value in holding that personal time and family time that was created through the pandemic and enjoying that, but I also think it's important to intentionally get back to being connected to things like our alma mater or social engagements that help us feel like a community again. If the pendulum swung really far one way, its important to make sure it swings back a little bit. Because here in Wyoming things like connection and community really do matter.