Halla graduated from Verzló in 1986, and afterwards moved to the United States as an international student, graduating from Auburn University at Montgomery with a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a focus on management and human resources, in 1993.

[2] She received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University in 1995.

[4] She served as the chief executive of The B Team, a global nonprofit group of business and civil society leaders working to promote business practices focused on humanity and the climate.

[7] On 1 June 2024, Halla won the Icelandic presidential election, defeating former prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir by a roughly 10-point margin.

[8] Her campaign focused on issues such as the effects of social media on the mental health of youth, tourism development, and the role of artificial intelligence.