Wirkkala graduated from Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Washington.

[1][2] As a graduate student, was an intern for the Global Strategy Group and Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

[3] In February 2021, she became a special assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

[4] On March 11, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Wirkkala to be an assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs.

[6] Wirkkala is married to Ian Duncan, a transportation reporter for The Washington Post.