Maynard was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and spent eighteen years as a registered nurse in Harlem, New York, before moving to Tucson, Arizona, in 1946. During the 1950s she served as an officer in the Arizona NAACP and was active in the Arizona Democratic Party, serving as a committee-member on the precinct and ward level, and attending the 1956 Democratic National Convention. In 1966, she was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives and served until she was defeated in the 1972 elections.