Kidd was born Jane Brevard Vandiver on February 12, 1953, in Atlanta to Sybil Elizabeth "Betty" (née Russell; 1927–2018), a daughter of federal judge Robert Lee Russell, and Ernest Vandiver (1918–2005, an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II and former mayor of Lavonia, Georgia, who was serving as the state's adjutant general under Governor Herman Talmadge.

Kidd started her career as a disc jockey at WNEG (AM) and later worked at the University of Georgia public television (WUGA-TV).

In 1986, she moved to Athens, Georgia and worked for Gehrung Associates, as a media relations consultant for the Keene, NH firm.

In 1996 Kidd returned to UGA as fundraiser and alumni director for The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and the Grady College of Journalism.

Kidd returned to higher education public relations in 2012 when she became Special Assistant to the President of Piedmont University in Demorest and Athens, Georgia.