Helping people connect their values to the causes that matter to them is a privilege for me.
I am currently employed as the Chief Development Officer at Larkin Street Youth Services, San Francisco Bay Area’s largest nonprofit dedicated to ending youth homelessness. I bring to my work over 30-years of nonprofit management experience and for-profit business ownership.
As a staff person and independent consultant, I have previously helped raise over $150 million for various San Francisco Bay Area good causes.
As a volunteer board member, I have led six nonprofit agencies, including a multi-million-dollar arts funder and nationally recognized mental health counseling center.
I have managed the fundraising for multiple nonprofits, including Larkin Street, an agency with an annual budget of nearly $30 million, 300 employees, and 2,000 annual clients. Last year I exceeded my budget goal by 39%, raising $12M in 12 months, ensuring the agency was able to rapidly respond to the pandemic, expanding services and avoiding layoffs. I am also part of a collaborative city-wide public-private 3-year campaign to raise an additional $35M for multiple organizations working to end youth homelessness.
I am the former Board President of the Development Executive Roundtable, a 50-year-old professional fundraising association whose members collectively raise over $1 billion annually.
Additionally, I have started several for-profit businesses, including a national trade association for film and video distributors, a community newspaper, an events production company, and a successful restaurant.
I bring strong collaborative management, strategic planning, marketing communications, and community relations skills to all my work.
“There is no fundraiser I know who is better than Gayle at connecting people — donors and fundraisers alike — back to the pure joy, generosity, and compassion at the heart of giving. Knowing her and learning from her has deeply impacted my experience and approach as both a fundraiser and a donor.”
Dana Textoris, Director of Client Engagement
Grants Plus
The common thread throughout my career has been a desire to bring people together.
Working across race, class, age, gender, sexuality, and ability, I foster a world that embraces people for who they are and encourages them to live their dreams. Today I do the work I do because, at its core, fundraising helps foster greater social change in the world.
Born and raised in Minnesota, I moved to San Francisco two decades ago, looking for a community that reflected these values. Today I work as a fundraiser to ensure that the dream that brought so many of us to the Bay Area is kept alive.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota, I received my Certification in Fundraising Management (CFRM) from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. I have received Certificates of Merit from the California State Senate and Assembly.
Currently, I am an active board member of the Bay Area chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, an international association of over 30,000 professional fundraisers, where I co-chair our diversity efforts.
