Tory Martin joined the Johnson Center in October 2017 as director of communications and engagement. In 2022, her role expanded to include strategic partnerships, and in 2025 she was named director of engagement and knowledge-building.

Tory responsibilities at the Johnson Center have always included creative oversight for the Johnson Center’s communications and marketing efforts across publications and digital channels. This work includes overall strategy, content development, and tracking engagement metrics. She also has ongoing responsibility as coordinator and catalyzer for the center’s fund development efforts and funder stewardship, in close partnership with the executive director, senior leadership, and GVSU’s University Development team. She is the primary strategic staff support for the Johnson Center’s Leadership Council.

Tory further serves as an integrative force in the Johnson Center’s mission to build, share, and activate knowledge in the sector to improve practice. Her work includes providing leadership for The Foundation Review, overseeing the annual publication of the center’s 11 Trends in Philanthropy report, supporting the development of research-to-practice curriculum and learning programs, and facilitating partnerships that position the Johnson Center to bring more research-informed knowledge and strategies to bear on the practice of community change.

Previously, Tory served as grants manager for National Public Radio (NPR) and held several roles in the audience and education departments of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), where she was a founding member of the staff diversity advisory council.

Tory is originally from the Washington, D.C. area and is a proud graduate of both the University of Virginia, earning a B.A. in American Studies and History, and Georgetown University, where she completed an M.A. in liberal studies, concentration: American Studies.