Throughout her life, Kyle has focused on the intersection of policy, business and social sectors. Early in her career, Kyle worked in the political arena and then went on to practice law, representing a wide spectrum of corporate and social sector clients. During this time, Kyle began volunteering to mentor a child at a local shelter. It was here that she became painfully aware of the limited resources and almost nonexistent access to books children in local mentoring programs battle.

Her firsthand experience working with local heroes committed to improving opportunities for low-income youth inspired Kyle and two colleagues to found First Book in 1992. Three years later, Kyle began serving full time as President of the organization. Under her leadership, First Book has distributed over 65 million books to children in thousands of communities in the United States. In addition, First Book has successfully launched several new subsidiaries—including the First Book National Book Bank and The First Book Marketplace—and has opened offices in Canada.

First Book is one of the most celebrated organizations in the social sector. In 2003, Forbes Magazine named First Book one of ten “Gold Star” Charities and, for the past five consecutive years, Fast Company and Monitor Group have named First Book a winner of the Social Capitalist Award for using entrepreneurial genius to solve global issues. In 2007, First Book received the Golden Halo Award -- the highest award for cause marketing in the United States from the Cause Marketing Forum for its innovative cause-based marketing campaigns. In 2005, First Book received the largest grant ever given by the Oprah’s Angel Network Book Club Award to support First Book’s efforts in the Delta region. That same year, the First Book Marketplace was awarded the Grand Prize in the Yale School of Management/ Goldman Sachs Nonprofit Business Plan Competition. Most recently, First Book was named the Signature Charity of the Quill Awards.

Kyle’s commitment to innovation and integration across sectors has earned her a reputation as a social sector leader. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Ashoka which works to ensure that social entrepreneurs and their innovations continue to inspire a new generation of local change-makers to create positive social change. She also serves on the Youth Venture Board of Directors, and as a member of the board for James Patterson’s www.readkiddoread.com. She was also named 2007 Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the United States by the Geneva-based Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. In July of 2008, Kyle was named the first ever American Marketing Association Nonprofit Marketer of the Year and she is currently a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Social Entrepreneurship 2009.