Alpha Fandoms
Final Fantasy IX, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (“Nine-Nine!”)
20/20 Promise
Tori has a pet peeve regarding performative language and functionally impractical “progressivism”. Her personal crusade, in her own words, is to ensure the marginalized portions of society are accommodated. Intersectional issues are her passion, serving as a focus to ensure a lack of discrimination. Tori wants to make certain that even those without ready access to the sort of technology used for most interface issues can be made available to anyone at the touch of a button.
Tori left musicology as she became disillusioned with the sequestered, sheltered views found within that academia. It is her belief that all media is important, from the “classics” to the icons of fandom. She is proud to bring the various topics and subject matter of The Unconventional into the public eye, and to push the boundaries, as always, compared to current standards.
Tori Clark
Web Production Team Leader.
“The original idea of the web was that it should be a collaborative space where you can communicate through sharing information.” – Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the Web
Tori’s first exposure to fandom came through her parents, with her mother designing and sewing her earliest cosplay. Star Trek was first and foremost among the sci-fi greats that would lure her into the world of fandom (with her favorite character being the enigmatic Q). Tori would also become a fan of comic books, becoming deeply fond of the Martian Manhunter.
Through childhood and well-into college, Ms. Clark was a video game fanatic. The Final Fantasy series still resonates in her heart and would lead her to a love for medieval music. This would ignite a passion for Tolkien’s writing, further kindling a deep appreciation of the Welsh language and bardic tradition, which inspired his own Elvish “Quenya”. Having already been a professional bassoonist, these gestalted in the pursuit to become a professor of music history. Over time, she saw issues with the ins-and-outs of academia and its limitations in how musicology was approached.
Graduating from the University of Delaware with separate degrees in both musical performance and English literature, Tori managed to keep a full scholarship with honors for the entirety of her time (with nearly twice the number of credit hours as most students), consistently making the dean’s list and earning membership in several academic honors fraternities and societies.
Professionally, Ms. Clark started her career in the publishing industry, wading fully into digital design and web development of economic reports. Given her mother’s background as a music therapist for intellectual disabilities, Tori was exposed early on to students and individuals with several limitations. This would greatly influence her perspective on modern web design. After all, isn’t the point to make certain everyone could use the information available on the web? To her chagrin, a curriculum for digital accessibility currently doesn’t exist. In this, Ms. Clark found her calling, inspiring her to pursue a Masters of Education.
While working on said degree, Tori freelanced as an accessibility consultant at startups, nonprofits, and elsewhere for five years, including obtaining several certifications. Following this, she was hired at JPMorgan Chase, managing accessibility for fifteen different front-facing properties across the brand. Tori went on to consult for Wells Fargo’s highly robust design system. She has since taken a position at Airbnb, focusing on exciting challenges like map accessibility for blind and low-vision users.
Ms. Clark is well-versed in making venues, webpages, services, and entertainment inclusive to all. At SFS, she makes use of her skills to evolve the company’s digital presence, inclusive of game content, periodical releases, and in the future performances and further consulting work. In between all this, and a on-brand lack of sleep, Tori runs the emerging nonprofit “Digital A11ies”, which has grassroot programs and initiatives to normalize digital accessibility. Today, she continues her mission to address the increasing need for better inclusion in all aspects of life, professionally and in fandom spaces.