She was the first woman in New Zealand to be elected as a member of a metropolitan stock exchange, and the first to run her own broking firm.

Born in Invercargill on 3 April 1931 as Elsie Cantlie Myron, she was educated at Southland Girls' High School.

Kennedy joined Francis Allison Symes in 1984, establishing that firm's local authority money market.

She was the first New Zealand woman, in January 1987, to establish her own brokerage firm, Kennedy Sharebrokers, which merged with Main Corporation later that year.

[2] After resigning as chair of Main Corporation in December 1987, Kennedy was involved in setting up the Government Computer Service, of which she was a director until 1993.