Haile was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1966. Her family fled Ethiopia during the coup in the mid-70s, after soldiers arrested and nearly killed her historian father Getatchew Haile who at the time was a member of the transitional Ethiopian parliament. Around age 10, the family settled in rural Minnesota where Haile attended Saint Johns Preparatory School (Collegeville, MN), graduating in 1983.