2013 Young Alumni Award

While still in the midst of her Beloit College years, Tori Key said that she knew her experiences here would take her far. Ten years later, it’s evident her prediction was true.

Her time at Beloit was marked by engagement, both in clubs and extracurricular activities, but also in pursuit of academic excellence and dynamic, community-based research. She was a resident assistant, a McNair scholar, a Neese scholar, member of Black Students United, Programming Board, and the International Club, while also serving as senior class officer and working with the on-campus Help Yourself program. The economics and management major and women’s studies minor was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, volunteered at a local community center, and studied abroad in France.

Her passion for exploring issues of poverty and inequality—especially how they affect women—led her to pursue a Duffy Internship that sought to economically empower survivors of domestic violence. As part of her research, she became a coach and mentor to a group of women at a local shelter, arranging a series of speakers on topics like legal advice and debt management. She later presented her research in a student symposium. She was awarded the Martha Peterson Prize, the Wall Street Journal Award, and the Jane Quisenberry and W. Willard Wirtz Prize for Public Service.

Post Beloit, Tori’s star continued to rise as she earned a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs and went on to become a Capital City Fellow in Washington, D.C., a program that places recent graduate-degree recipients in the public service sector. She took a project management position with Unisys, an information technology company, and is currently a senior associate at the leading accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton.

Throughout her successful business career, Tori has maintained ties to Beloit, serving as an associate class agent and advising current students through the college’s career network. In describing her college experience, Tori once said, “Beloit has made a dramatic difference in my life.” There is no doubt that she in turn has made a dramatic impact on the Beloit College community, setting a stellar example for other students.

In all that she has done and accomplished, Beloit College is proud to count her among its graduates, and is pleased to award Tori J. Key with the Young Alumni Award on the occasion of her 10th reunion.