Yetta Nashman was born in Winnipeg, went to pre-school in Cobalt, Ontario and grew up in Niagara Falls.  Yetta attended the University of Toronto and Queen's University attaining her BA and Teacher's Certificate. For 2 years she taught a classroom in Junior High School before marrying Harold Nashman. They were together for 44 years, they had 5 children and were happily married until Yetta passed away in July 2000. Yetta was dedicated to learning and was always in search of truth. As a young mother she was very interested in psychology, believing that having children should require parents to study various aspects of child rearing. Yetta was one of the early local adherents of Adlerian Psychology and was instrumental in bringing Dr. Rudolph Dreikers, one of Adler's colleagues, to Toronto to address an overflow audience. Realizing how important parent education could be, Yetta became a presenter for the Parent Effectiveness Training Program. For several years she led discussion and provided leadership and practical parenting tools for young mothers .and fathers seeking support and guidance in their effort to raise healthy, happy children. She received her Master's of Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and taught in the Faculty of Education at York University.

Yetta found traditional Judaism to be a source of truth and wisdom that was relevant to life in the 21st  century. For her it was truly a blueprint for living, adding new meaning and values to her life experience. As Yetta became more involved in Jewish study, she saw that much of modern psychology had its roots in Jewish traditions. It was this reality that led her to begin efforts to develop a program that combined the guidelines for living of Judaism with the best thinking of contemporary psychology. Thus was born the Jewish Family Institute that was named to honour the memory of her exemplary contribution to Jewish life in Toronto.