For Gayle, geography "provided a framework in which to understand and assess community issues, whether [of] housing, environment, international poverty, development, etc." At Clark she learned "critical thinking and sensitivity to global issues, [how to] place problems into [the] larger community context, [and] cross-cultural awareness."Gayle has had many opportunities to use these skills, having worked for Foster Parents Plan USA and Save the Bay. In 1999 she received an M.S. in Management from Antioch New England. Currently, Gayle is president of Cause and Effect, a Providence-based consulting firm whose mission is to help organizations "make a difference in the world," by advising on communications, fundraising, and organizational development. Cause and Effect's clients have included AIDS Project Rhode Island, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, PLAN International/Childreach, Sojourner Feminist Institute, and the Southeastern Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.
She wrote "geography has served me well in all of my jobs and volunteer activism, providing me with a strategic framework in which to consider the world."