Torii Kapavik
Senior Director of Development
I was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and lived there until I was 13. On more than one occasion, my dad and I went to the Humane Society on the island to volunteer and came home with a puppy. I loved every one of them, and as an only child, I’ve always felt that no family is complete without four-legged family members. My love for pets has continued into adulthood. When my husband and I moved into our first apartment, we had a puppy less than a week later.
When I was 13, we moved to a small town in Texas called Hillsboro. After high school, I received my Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Leadership and Development from Texas A&M University. I started my career in major gifts fundraising for the Texas A&M Foundation and have worked in the field for over 10 years.
While I was with Texas A&M, I worked with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and later joined the Division of Student Affairs as their Director of Development. I spent six years at Texas A&M before moving to Fort Collins to work at Colorado State.
Prior to the FACC, I worked for a year in CSU’s central development office, fundraising for higher education. In September 2019, I moved to the Flint Animal Cancer Center. I am a Senior Director of Development dedicated to supporting the fundraising efforts of the Flint Animal Cancer Center.
I unexpectedly lost my dad to cancer when I was 13 years old and would love for no one to lose someone they love too soon, whether that’s a pet or a person, because of this terrible disease. My personal cancer story makes me extremely passionate about the work we do here at the FACC.
My work includes meeting with people who are interested in supporting the work of the cancer center. This includes helping new and current donors match their philanthropic interests with the funding needs of the FACC and thanking those donors for their gifts. I love that I get to connect with people who, like me, love their pets as much as people and want to find a way to cure cancer for all.
When I’m not working, I love to explore everything Colorado has to offer – hiking, camping, and brewery-hopping with my husband, Cole, and our dogs. We have an orange and white kitty, Phoebe, Ellie a labradoodle, and Enzo a West Highland White Terrier.
While I don’t have a science background and won’t be the person who finds a cure for cancer, I believe that we all must do what we can with the resources we have, so contributing even just a tiny amount, through my fundraising profession, to the immense effort of fighting cancer is something I’m proud to be a part of. I look forward to connecting with you and finding ways that we can work together to conquer cancer for all.