Maya Mackinnon is a graduate of Utah State University and a resident of Logan, Utah. She received a B.S. in print journalism and a minor in fine arts.
After graduation, Mackinnon was the city editor and interim managing editor of The Herald Journal, Cache County's newspaper. She was the lifestyles editor at The Utah Statesman from 2022-2023 and a news reporter the year prior. Mackinnon was the editor and project manager of the 2023 Highlander magazine distributed at Utah State and throughout Cache Valley.
Outside of work, Mackinnon volunteers as the co-lead of the Cache County Coalition for A Bolder Way Forward, part of the Utah Women and Leadership Project, and works as the Administrative Specialist for the Health Across the Lifespan spoke of BWF.