Victoria was born and raised in Media, Pennsylvania, a rural area located southeast of Philadelphia. She came to Tucson in 1975 to study Cultural Anthropology at the University of Arizona. After taking a geology class at Pima College she switched her major to Geosciences. She worked her way through college and in 1986 (finally) received her degree from the University of Arizona. After a brief stint as a Surface Water Hydrologist with a Tucson engineering firm, Victoria joined the staff of The Nature Conservancy. During more that 25 years with the nonprofit organization she helped protect nature in Arizona, Mexico and the Caribbean. In 2014, she left the Conservancy and joined the Khalidi Law Firm.