She graduated from Goshen College with a major in history and secondary education and a minor in Spanish. During college, Mara studied in Peru and Paraguay, and lived in a Catholic Worker community in Atlanta. After graduation, Mara moved to Mexico City, where she lived and worked at Casa de los Amigos, a Quaker guest house and community center for peace and international understanding that focuses on work with immigrants and refugees as well as alternative community-based economics models.