Shea Ganandra was previously a female person known as Mari, the mother of the human female named Mari. By the time period of 382 BBY, Mari had changed her name to Shea Ganandra, as she disliked her birth name, and was a part of the Path of the Open Hand's Children. This group of Path members collected Force artifacts for Elecia Zeveron, the leader of the Path.
After the events of the Night of Sorrow in that same year, Ganandra departed from the Path. She formulated a plan to become a cargo transporter alongside Yana Ro, an Evereni female who had been a fellow member of the Children with Ganandra. She also intended to raise her expected child. Upon sharing the news of her pregnancy with Ro, Ganandra told her that she planned to name the child Mari if it were a girl. When the Evereni questioned this name choice, Ganandra sheepishly explained that Mari was both her mother's name and her own original name, confessing that she had previously disliked the name Mari. The baby turned out to be a daughter.
The character of Mari was referenced within The High Republic: Path of Vengeance, a young-adult novel from 2023. Cavan Scott authored the novel, which was released as part of Phase II of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative.