About Savi

We believe that people shouldn't spend their lives buried in student loan debt.

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Savi Community Support Program

Savi strongly believes in helping all borrowers access federal repayment and forgiveness options. As a result, we have launched the Community Support Program to help targeted communities disproportionately impacted by their student loans. This program allows Savi to give free access to a range of premium services including 1-1 support and automated paperwork to at-risk borrowers through key anchor partners.

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Meet the Savi Team

Aaron

Aaron Smith

Co-founder

Aaron Smith is a long-time student loan expert and advocate with over a decade of experience in the intersection between higher education and financial technology. Aaron co-founded and served as the original Executive Director of Young Invincibles, one of the largest and most impactful youth advocacy and policy non-profits in the country, with a focus on engaging 18 to 34 year olds. Aaron started YI in 2009 while still a student at Georgetown Law School (from which he still has substantial student loan debt). Through his work at YI, Aaron worked with the Department of Education, the White House, and Congress to make concrete fixes to higher education funding and the student loan process. Aaron has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.

Tobin

Tobin Van Ostern

Co-founder

Tobin Van Ostern is an experienced leader and policy expert with over a decade of accolades in the intersecting fields of youth engagement and innovative technology. A former web developer, Van Ostern mobilized young adults using technology when he served as the National Director of the Student Engagement Program for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Afterwards, he became the Deputy Director of Generation Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress where he led work on a number of policy and engagement areas, including student loans. He has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, TIME, ABC, CBS, NPR, U.S. News & World Report, Chronicle of Higher Education, and others.

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Aastha Neupane

Software Engineer

Aastha is a self-taught programmer and full-stack Coding Dojo graduate with over three years of professional experience. She is also currently pursuing her M.S. in Software Engineering from George Mason University. Aastha comes to Savi with passions for software engineering and problem solving. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading novels and traveling.

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Aibek Yegemberdin

Product Manager

Aibek holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology with previous experience in product management and entrepreneurship. He is passionate to continuously solve existing pain points for student loan borrowers and to build user-centric solutions at Savi. Originally from Kazakhstan and Turkey, Aibek loves traveling, trying out different foods and connecting with people from all parts of the world. In his spare time, Aibek enjoys hiking, cycling and snowboarding.

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Alex L.

Senior Engineer & Designer

Before Savi, Alex worked as the UI Engineering Manager at Society6 and helped more than quadruple their annual revenue by leading initiatives such as iOS app, social networking, and responsive design. Alex's passion lies in building beautiful and intuitive products that users can pick up instantly. In his free time, Alex enjoys drone racing and competes internationally against the best pilots in the world.

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Aliza Sir

Senior Director of New Revenue & Strategy

Aliza believes in the power of technology and collaboration to disrupt systemic inequalities and empower underserved communities. In her role, she oversees the growth and impact of national partnerships. Prior to Savi, Aliza worked in social impact consulting before leading a team at AARP Foundation that spearheaded new technology and programs to improve consumer financial health for hundreds of thousands of seniors. An AmeriCorps alum, Aliza holds a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill and a Certificate in Innovation from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Amanda Cross

Partnerships & Account Manager

Amanda joins Savi as a Partnerships Manager after spending the past few years working for fast-growing startup companies in the Salt Lake City area. As a life long learner, she graduated from Colby College with her B.A. and is now pursuing her MBA from Syracuse University. When she's away from her computer, you can find Amanda hiking or mountain biking in the Wasatch mountains with her Australian Shepherd.

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Ashana DeSilva

Partnerships Associate

Ashana holds a B.A in Political Science from the University of Delaware. Before Savi, she spent 3 years working in non-profit advancing women entrepreneurship and supplier diversity. While there she implemented new initiatives for entrepreneurship education and assisted women business owners through the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashana is passionate about advancing education and equity through technology. Ashana enjoys live music, teaching dance classes and trying new restaurants.

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Brian Alegria

Software Engineer

Brian is a recent graduate from University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Computer Science. He has a deep passion for breaking down barriers in the field of computer science. While in school, Brian worked at a nonprofit supporting marginalized individuals in STEM. He loves building technology that has a positive impact on other people’s lives. Brian brings intellectual curiosity and a deep desire to influence the core Savi product to the team.

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Chukwuma Nze

Senior Software Engineer

Chukky’s love of numbers and code is a perfect fit for Savi’s data driven approach to helping their users attain loan forgiveness. Prior to Savi, he improved Discount Tools and Social Connectivity at Society6, lead a multi-continent team at MaritimeLoans and implemented cloud based APIs at Saferide Health. His ability to translate the principles of stable design and teamwork from multiple industries gives Savi an upper hand in its flexibility with solving the multi faceted problem of student debt. When he’s away from his keyboard, you can find him buried in a good book, checking out LA’s restaurant scene or giving his nieces and nephews way too many gifts.

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Dylan Clark

Customer Support Assistant Manager

After attending Tulane University and the London School of Economics, Dylan worked at many start up companies in the Bay Area. As someone who loves trying new things, she gained professional experience within different industries including financial technology, customer service, marketing and development. With a diverse background and passion for helping others, she strives to make every Savi user feel fully understood and supported. In her free time, Dylan works at weekend farmers markets and enjoys rollerskating, hiking and hot yoga!

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Ellis Linsmith

Partnerships Manager

Ellis is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges with bachelor degrees in both international relations and Spanish. Before coming to Savi, Ellis worked at the D.C. Tenants’ Rights Center, a low-bono law firm that assists District residents. While there, she led their intake and internal operations while also managing client relations through all stages of the legal process. Ellis is passionate about helping folks overcome obstacles in their lives, whether it be an eviction on their record or the burden of student loans. When she isn’t helping borrowers manage their student loan debt, you can find her thrift shopping or trying a new recipe.

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Geo Morales

Business Development Manager

After graduating from Dartmouth College, Geo joined Deloitte Consulting where he worked with the University of California consortium to streamline their business processes. Following his time at Deloitte, Geo worked at WiseLayer as Head of Business Development where he developed and managed all aspects of the enterprise sales pipeline, in addition to overseeing pre-seed round investor funding. In his spare time, Geo enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding – especially in different countries!

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Hannah Murphy

Senior Partnerships Manager

Prior to joining Savi, Hannah supported partnerships and onboarding efforts at several early stage startups in the greater Seattle area. Hannah graduated from Eckerd College with a B.A in International Studies and received her Certificate in Project Management from the University of Washington. When she’s not thinking of ways to strategically develop and scale processes to best support clients, you can find Hannah exploring the beautiful PNW.

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Jobe McDermott

Savi Senior Support Associate

Jobe is a graduate of Florida State University, where he studied political science and international affairs. Before joining Savi, Jobe worked in student affairs, customer service and interned with the U.S. House of Representatives. With student loans of his own, Jobe hopes to combine his passion for policy and helping others to support fellow student loan borrowers. In his free time, Jobe enjoys being outdoors, exploring local record stores and trying to keep his over-watered houseplants alive.

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Kaela Carvalho

Director of Partnerships

Kaela is a Boston University graduate and joins the Savi team as the Senior Partnerships Manager. She dedicated the last four years to overseeing all client relationships at a high-growth, edtech startup and is passionate about ensuring access to education. She's a California native but has fully embraced an East Coast lifestyle, and can be found scouring DC for the best restaurants, workout classes and breakfast sandwich.

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Katie Kasmir

Senior Support Associate

Katie brings a passion for helping others with student loan debt after she struggled for years to pay off her own student loans from attending both The University of Texas at Austin and The University of North Texas. Katie holds years of experience in personalized customer service and political volunteering to work one on one with customers to help them reach their goal of loan forgiveness. In her free time, Katie likes to train and spoil her four dachshunds and work in her tomato and pepper garden.

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Katie Mogul

Chief of Staff

Katie worked previously on the Partnerships team working closely with Savi clients. Prior to Savi, Katie worked in marketing consulting. She worked with education, agriculture, and healthcare clients in order to drive their social impact through business-building solutions. Most recently, Katie worked at Georgetown University developing the communications and prospective student outreach strategy for multiple graduate programs. Katie earned her B.A. from the University of Richmond in journalism and education policy.

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Kevin Kawaguchi

Director of Engineering

Kevin brings experience to leading the engineering team after working as the engineering manager at Livestrong. While there, Kevin scaled the site to over 50 million unique visitors per month and built a subscription-based fitness program which synchronized streaming workout videos, custom meal plans, and a meal-tracking app. In his free time, Kevin enjoys traveling with his wife and kids.

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Laura Tapia

Savi Support Associate

Laura is currently finishing her B.S. in Psychology at Texas A&M University-San Antonio and brings several years of customer support experience to Savi. During the early stages of her degree, Laura was and continues to be passionate about working with children with disabilities and previously worked at an ABA clinic for children with Autism. Laura brings that same care and understanding in her role at Savi with helping borrowers better understand student loans. When she isn’t working, you can find Laura walking her dog at the Pearl, watching TikToks with her husband or shopping at Ikea!

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Lindsay Clark

Chief Borrower Advocate

Lindsay is a fierce champion for the student loan borrower - having accumulated enormous student debt over the course of her undergraduate and graduate studies at Yale and Columbia, respectively. Having worked in advocacy and financial technology for nearly a decade, Lindsay brings a deep understanding of the urgency behind providing solutions for student loan borrowers. As Director of External Affairs, Lindsay built and continues to lead our front line efforts to assist America’s 46 million borrowers. She is also a contributor at The Nation.

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Matt Verdona

Savi Support Associate

Matt holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since graduating cum laude, he has focused on work with non-profits as well as working within the customer service industry. Like many people, he has had experience with the complexity of handling his own student loans and aims to help others better understand their own financial avenues for success. Matt's skillset is melding personalized support with pragmatic solutions to benefit the tens of millions of Americans impacted by student loan debt. In his down time, Matt enjoys drumming and staying active by going on hikes and making frequent trips to the beach.

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Rafael Garcia

Savi Support Associate

Rafael is currently attending community college with hopes to transfer to Cal State NorthRidge. He is pursuing a degree in computer science with the aspiration to someday soon become a front-end web developer. With history in other startup companies, Rafael knows the hard work and team dedication it takes to start something from the ground up and believing in the mission. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his family and friends, playing sudoku and playing video games.

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Ross Mountjoy

Software Engineer

Ross began his career in the real estate industry, where he served as the Director of Operations for a top real estate agent team in the DC METRO Area. During that time - in his free time - Ross began learning full stack web development while working closely with a home remodeler to create HomePrep - a web application for helping homeowners carry out pre-sale home renovations in order to net more when the home sells. HomePrep has helped hundreds of homeowners in the DC area with pre-sale renovation. Ross's passion lies in building technologies that empower people to do more. In his free time, Ross is an avid mountain biker, rock climber and whitewater kayaker.

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Ryan Andreas

Director of Customer Success

Ryan lives, breathes and sleeps customer service and brings a swath of experience to Savi. Previously, Ryan was the assistant theater manager for Shakespeare in the Park in New York City and the manager of member services for The Book of the Month Club. He holds a B.S. degree in business administration from Le Moyne College and believes that great customer service is vital to any business. Ryan strives to ensure all Savi borrowers have the best experience possible. In his free time, he enjoys attending as many Broadway shows as possible, cooking for his family and reading.

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Ryan Corcoran

Business Development Representative

Ryan brings a diverse background to the Business Development team at Savi. Prior to joining Savi, Ryan was in the US Army where he worked as an Airborne Infantryman, Range Assistant and Logistics Specialist. Following his time in the Army, Ryan studied Environmental Business and Economics at Rutgers University in his home state of New Jersey. During that time he worked for a small manufacturing firm as a Client Service Manager. In his free time, Ryan enjoys hiking, reading, practicing the guitar and watching movies.

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Sandra Aulean

Operations Associate

Sandra joins the Savi team with several years experience in People Operations. Having a diverse background has allowed her to serve her colleagues across different industries such as tech, financial services, hospitality, and real estate. She is enthusiastic about all things relating to debt-elimination, especially student loans. Having felt the victory of eliminating her own student loan balance, she is cheering on her fellow borrowers who seek to eliminate their own. When she isn't working, Sandra is mentally planning her next trip and saving more recipes than she will actually get around to cooking.

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Tony Raffa

Director of Business Development Strategy

Tony Raffa is an entrepreneur focused on creating social impact and redefining the social sector. Tony spent six years with Marcum Social Capital Advisors, helping social companies develop new strategies, secure funding, and grow. He is the director of a fiscal sponsorship assisting multiple nonprofits worldwide and sits on nonprofit boards. As the creator of multiple start-ups, such as DSY, LLC and Zombie Coffee & Donuts, Tony has years of experience creating strategies and scaling multiple projects. Tony graduated from the University of Georgia and often returns to lecture at classes and assist with the Society of Entrepreneurs. He has been featured in many articles about social entrepreneurship and the power of giving back.

Our Story

The student loan debt crisis is postponing the American Dream for 46 million borrowers-- and the rules to reduce payments and forgive debt are so confusing that public officials say the system is broken. Founded in 2017 by long-time student loan experts and advocates, Aaron Smith and Tobin Van-Ostern, Savi is a social impact technology startup in Washington, D.C. working to solve the student debt crisis.

Savi was founded on the principle that America's loan borrowers, who hold $1.7 trillion of debt, deserve help navigating the complex student loan system. Using innovative technology and a team of thoughtful industry leaders, we help loan borrowers discover new repayment and loan forgiveness options. So far, we've identified over $2 Billion in projected forgiveness for student loan borrowers who have signed up with Savi as a unique student loan benefit provided by their employer, membership organization, or financial institution.

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Join the Savi Team

We think that borrowers everywhere should be able to manage their debt, lower their payments, and find a path to student loan freedom. Our team is passionate about creating honest and effective financial technology that helps everyday, working class people. Join us in working to end the student debt crisis.

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