Jodi grew up exploring the lakes and woods of southeastern Ontario where her family has a summer home. Since 1986 she has worked in various capacities throughout the field of adventure based education including directing an outdoor center in eastern Ontario, leading extensive canoe tripping expeditions for youth at risk and directing courses for the Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association. She has paddled thousands of kilometers with young people through lakes and rivers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba & Minnesota and led several expeditions to Hudson Bay. She began working for Northwaters in 1996. A trained ballet dancer, musician & vocalist, Jodi has spent much of her life pursuing both the arts and the outdoors. In the winter she can be found cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the Adirondack Mountains where she lives with her husband, C.G. Stephens, daughter, Grace and two sons Hudson and McKenzie James.