 Coyle was executive director of Calmeadow for a decade where she helped establish microlending institutions such as BancoSol in Bolivia and the First Peoples Fund for Indigenous people in Canada.In 1997, she was appointed vice-president of St. Francis Xavier University and director of the school's Coady International Institute.In 2014, she was appointed the executive director of the Frank McKenna Centre for Leadership at St. Francis Xavier University.