Donna Jean MacKinnon was born June 3, 1943, in Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia). She graduated with a B.A. in English and Near Eastern History from Victoria College at the University of Toronto. Subsequently, MacKinnon received a secondary school teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Education (OISE). After graduation, she worked as a social worker, teacher, barmaid, department store buyer, antiques dealer at Salmagundi and the Hudson’s Bay Company, and freelance writer.From 1986 to 2009, MacKinnon worked as a staff reporter at the _Toronto Star_. While at the _Star_, MacKinnon wrote about a wide range of subjects, from entertainment stories, business (including the weekly column “Thinking Big”), home design and architecture (weekly section “Sunday Home”), and general assignment stories covering daily city news. During this time, MacKinnon also wrote as a freelancer for _Condo Living_ (column titled “Best Laid Plans”), _City & Country Magazine_, the _Globe and Mail_, the _Washington Post_, the _Toronto Life_, _House & Home_, _Great Expectations_, and _Canadian Jeweller_. As a freelancer, she also wrote two scripts for _T.V. Ontario_ and posts for the _Presbyterian Record_ (blog "Recipes and Memories"). During her years as a reporter, MacKinnon published over 15,000 news pieces either under her name, the byline Isabella Street, and as a ghostwriter.In the 1990s, MacKinnon started working on her book _Newsgirls: gutsy pioneers in Canada’s newsrooms_ which she published in 2017.MacKinnon is a certified yoga teacher registered with the American Yoga Teachers Association.