Savi is a unique student loan wellness platform that uses financial technology to help employees understand, optimize, and repay their student debt.

Finance

Savi

Co-Founders

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.

Katie Kasmir

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.

Rafael Garcia

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!

Laura Tapia

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 their front-line efforts to assist America’s 46 million borrowers. She is also a contributor at The Nation.

Lindsay Clark

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.

Ellis Linsmith

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.

Ryan Andreas

Spencer Dixon

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.

Kevin Kawaguchi

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](/org/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](/org/new-york-times), Washington Post, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, TIME, ABC, CBS, NPR, [U.S. News & World Report](/org/u-s-news-world-report), Chronicle of Higher Education, and others.

Tobin Van Ostern

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](/org/americorps) alum, Aliza holds a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill and a Certificate in Innovation from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Aliza Sir

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](/org/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.

Aaron Smith

Savi's Leadership Team includes Aaron Smith and 5 others.

Leadership Team

About

Team members

Other teams at Savi

Founding Team

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