Yonni grew up in Great Neck, New York, and was graduated from The George Washington University in 1993. In 1996 she earned her Masters degree from HUC-JIR in New York City, the thesis for which was Holocaust education and how the lessons from that period of history can be used to teach children today about tolerance and acceptance of people of all race and religions.

Upon graduation, Yonni spent ten years as Director of Education at Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Corners, NY, two years as Development Director for Tikva Children’s Home, a charity supporting homeless and abandoned children in the former Soviet Union, and four years as Director of Lifelong Learning at Central Synagogue in Manhattan. During her fourteen year career as an educator, she ran and created curricula for nursery schools, after school religious school programs, adult education and taught parenting classes as well. She also mentored other educational directors during that time and for a few years following.

Yonni has been serving as Executive Director of Breast Cancer Alliance since June 2011, a local charity upon her arrival and now one of the highest-ranked and most prominent breast cancer charities in the United States. Yonni remains an active volunteer, currently sitting on the National Council for Arts and Sciences at The George Washington University, the Community Advisory Council of Greenwich Hospital, and is a consultant for Beit Teshuvah, an addiction recovery center in Los Angeles. In 2019 she was honored to be named one of "40 Fascinating Women" by WAG Magazine. In her not-so-spare time, Yonni is also a health coach and the founder of Yon Appetit, offering healthy recipes, tips and personalized nutritional coaching programs. Yonni is also the very proud mother of Max, a senior at Tulane University, where he played Division 1 football his freshman year and is completing his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering.

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