Brandi Mandato

Born and raised in Greater New Haven and the grand-daughter of Italian American immigrants, Brandi grew up in a working class family, the oldest of eight children. She has watched the people she loves work hard to find stability and build beautiful lives in Connecticut. Her upbringing instilled in her a strong sense of collaboration, resiliency, and an understanding of how to get people to work together toward a better tomorrow for all of us, even when we may have different goals and points of view.

Brandi has spent her entire adult life fighting for systemic change that upholds the values she was taught in Connecticut, including equitable access to quality jobs and catalytic education (including apprenticeships, trade schools, and higher education), reproductive rights, poverty alleviation, equity and dignity, evidence- based public safety, and ending mass criminalization and incarceration.