Victoria (“Tori”) Wright graduated in 1985. Tori is Wampanoag, and grew up in Aquinnah with her immediate and extended family. As a student at MVRHS, she participated in a number of clubs, sports, chorus, and band, but also chose to go abroad for one year, through the American Field Service, to New Zealand. This was and is an amazing feat for a high school student, and truly a life-changing experience, not only helping her to grow but learning the interconnectedness globally to her own indigenous roots.
While attending UMass Amherst, majoring in business, Tori traveled to Japan for a semester abroad to enhance her Japanese speaking skills and to study business. After university, Tori moved to Seattle, Wash., to work in the import/export industry, and also connected with the Native American community in Seattle. Eventually, a new adventure called to Tori, and she moved to Boston to attend Suffolk Law School. After law school she used her skills as a lawyer working for the nonprofit National Congress of the American Indian and the National Indian Gaming Association in Washington, D.C. Through such experiences, Tori not only developed in her professional career but her resolve to help Indian Country.
After her tenure working in nonprofits, Tori was recruited by Merrill Lynch to focus on diversity and finance marketing, and moved to Princeton, N.J. As a result of the financial crisis, Merrill Lynch became part of Bank of America, and she and her young family had the opportunity to move to Colorado. Tori rose to the level of senior vice president with Bank of America. After 14 years in corporate America, it was time for something new. Just prior to the pandemic, Tori took early retirement.
She dabbled in voice acting, and narrated more than 15 books. Then she tried her hand at writing, and five books later, she happily calls herself an inspirational writer. Through her writing, she aims “to remind people of what they know to be true, but have chosen to forget.”
Thank you, Tori, for being brave in venturing forth as that high school student traveling to New Zealand — opening up your world, and yet always remaining rooted in your personal history.
This series runs the first and 3rd week of the month. Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. She lives in Oak Bluffs. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast.net.
