#148 Tori Fugate | Chief Operating Officer, KC Pet Project | LIVE! from Boulevardia Festival 2023

Tori Fugate joined the KC Pet Project team in March 2012 – shortly after the organization took over the Kansas City, MO, animal shelter in January 2012. She is a graduate of Drury University in Springfield, MO, with a B.A. in Advertising and minors in Global Studies, Sports Management, and Women & Gender Studies. Tori’s past work experience includes working with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and various retail management positions. Her past non-profit experience includes working with the Missouri Restaurant Association and the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association, and she served on the Kansas City Restaurant Week Committee in 2011.

Tori’s role with KC Pet Project has enabled her to build the organization’s brand and promote its mission from inception to what it is today. She oversees all marketing, events, web management, social media, retail sales, education initiatives, and media relations, and she recently served on the design and construction committee of the KC Campus for Animal Care, Kansas City’s new animal shelter. She enjoys the opportunity to promote KC Pet Project and its pets through social media and in print, radio and television appearances on a local and national level – including People Magazine, The Dodo, The Huffington Post, CBS News, USA Today, Queer Eye, and The Rachael Ray Show.

Tori also serves on the Drury University Regional Board of Directors for Kansas City and is an alto in the Kansas City Symphony Chorus that performs with the Kansas City Symphony at the Kauffman Center of the Performing Arts.

In her free time, Tori is a runner, an avid music lover, record collector, and food, wine and craft beer enthusiast.