Linda Yanney attended Iowa Central Community College in Eagle Grove, Iowa, from 1972 to 1973 and Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa from 1973 to 1975. In 1978, she received a BA in English from the University of Iowa, where she received an MA in American Studies in 1984. Yanney's scholarly, activist, and volunteer interests coalesced around issues of equality, social justice, and advocacy. While pursuing her PhD at the University of Iowa in the 1980s, Yanney designed and taught courses in American studies and women's studies, including courses on women in American culture and the history of farming in the United States. She also worked as a graduate assistant at the Labor Center, where she conducted research and taught continuing education programs. Yanney's research interests included social history and political movements. Her dissertation was titled, "The Practical Revolution: An Oral History of the Iowa City Feminist Community, 1965-1975." Yanney received a PhD in American Studies in 1991.

Yanney later worked as an advisor for several public interest organizations, including a statewide gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) AIDS policy group, the Emma Goldman Clinic for Women, and the Jean Lloyd-Jones for Senate campaign. While in graduate school, Yanney had worked on Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign. During the mid-1990s, Yanney worked as a co-director and HIV program coordinator at the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic. She recruited volunteers, trained staff, and organized community outreach for the clinic. From 1999 until 2001, Yanney directed the University Oral History Project at the University of Iowa.

Since the l970s, Linda Yanney championed GLBT and women's rights. In 1976, she lobbied the Iowa City Council to pass the first Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance, which included sexual orientation protections. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she served on the advisory board for the Women's Resource and Action Center at the University of Iowa. In 1980, she was the co-chair of Citizens for Lighting and Safe Streets in Iowa City. She later served on the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee. In 1989, Yanney co-founded the Iowa Lesbian and Gay Political Caucus. Throughout this period, she was a member of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 716, AFL-CIO.