For over twenty-five years, Gabrielle David worked as a desktop publisher and word processing specialist at Fortune 500 firms, and through her former company, Chimeara Communications, Inc., designed promotional materials for a wide range of clients. She was a partner of hotshots unlimited photography (1982-1986), and managed and performed in bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s. David, who began writing poetry in elementary school, became involved in the New York poetry scene during the 1990s and served as literature coordinator at the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Queens throughout most of that decade.

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David's work with the library prompted the creation of phati’tude Literary Magazine, which eventually became a programming incentive under the Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS), a New York-based nonprofit organization she founded in 2000, and served as its executive director until 2020. Other program initiatives include phatLiterature, A Literary TV Program, which was videotaped at the Langston Hughes Library and aired nationally on college networks and public access outlets; the Annual African American Literary Festival, also held at the Langston Hughes Library; and 2Leaf Press, which was founded as an imprint of the organization in 2012.

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In 2019, the IAAS reorganized and transitioned to  2Leaf Press Inc. to narrow the scope of its mission, and help strengthen the brand recognition of 2Leaf Press, as its primary program initiative. David continues to serve as publisher of the press and oversee the distribution of phati’tude Literary Magazine.

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David is the co-editor of What Does it Mean to be White in America? Breaking the White Code of Silence, A Collection of Personal Narratives (2016), editor of Branches of the Tree of Life (2014), and co-editor of Hey Yo! Yo Soy! 40 Years of Nuyorican Street Poetry (2012), and author of the poetry chapbooks, Spring Has Returned and I Am Renewed (1996), and This is Me: A Collection of Poems and Things (1994). She is also the author of the six-volume series, TRAILBLAZERS, Black Women Who Helped Make America Great (2022-2024). David has participated in panel discussions and workshops, and has published articles and essays in numerous print and online publications. She attended LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) and New School University.