Gale has had a long and varied career as a professional and lay leader in the nonprofit community. Trained as a lawyer, Gale served for 7 years as Staff Counsel for Stanford University and then for 11 years as Vice President for Legal Affairs at California Pacific Medical Center. She transitioned from the law to nonprofit development and administration, becoming the Director of Development at Gateway High School, and later Chief Program Officer at the Koret Foundation, and Vice President, Development at UpStart.

As a lay leader, Gale has been active in both the Jewish and secular communities. She was the President of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center and co-chaired the capital campaign for the new JCCSF facility that opened in 2004. She co-founded Gateway High School (now Gateway Public Schools), an award-winning charter school, and served as its Board President. Currently, Gale is the Board President of Education Pioneers, a national educational organization that is focused on attracting leadership and management talent into the public educational sector and serves as the Board President of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the oldest, largest, and most respected Jewish film festival in the world. She is also a board member of UpStart Bay Area and co-chairs the Bay Area Regional Council for American Jewish World Service.

Gale has a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is married, with four grown children, and one grandchild (whom she looks forward to taking to the UA farm!).