Biography
Throughout her career, Kyle has worked at the intersection of policy, business and social issues. She served in the federal liaison office for Ohio Governor Richard Celeste and later became an advisor in the Presidential campaign of Walter Mondale. After graduating from The George Washington University National Law Center, Kyle entered legal practice where she represented a wide spectrum of clients. Kyle later became the Director of State Affairs for an innovative alliance between major consumer organizations and property and casualty insurance companies.
Kyle and two colleagues founded First Book in 1992, distributing 12,000 books in three communities. Three years later, Kyle began serving full time as President of First Book. To date, First Book has distributed over 47 million books to children in more than 3,000 communities in the United States. In addition, First Book has successfully launched several new subsidiaries—including the First Book National Book Bank, First Artists and The First Book Marketplace—and is in the process of expanding globally. First Book is one of the most celebrated new organizations in the social sector. In 2003, Forbes Magazine named First Book one of ten “Gold Star†Charities and, for the past four 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 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. Kyle’s commitment to innovation and integration across sectors has earned her a reputation as a social sector leader. She serves as a member of the International Board of Directors of both Ashoka — an organization dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs in more than forty countries worldwide — and Youth Venture, which works to inspire social entrepreneurs of the next generation. In October 2002, Redbook Magazine named Kyle as one of the 2002 “Mothers and Shakers†awardees and the University of Iowa, her alma mater, honored her with their Distinguished Alumni Award. Most recently, in November 2006, Kyle was named Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the United States by the Geneva-based Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. |
