[1] McKenna attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where she played on the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine women's basketball team.

[3] McKenna was an associate at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel until 1987, then served as general counsel to Otaka, Inc. until 1990.

She became an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Law School before being appointed a District Court judge on November 30, 1993.

[1] On January 25, 2011, Governor Neil Abercrombie nominated McKenna to a seat on the Hawaii Supreme Court.

[5] Over one hundred pieces of testimony were submitted to the Judiciary Committee with respect to her nomination, the vast majority of which were supportive of McKenna.