Our People are Our Greatest Asset

David L. Yowan is president and CEO of Navient. In 2017, he was appointed to the Navient Board of Directors and in 2023 he became CEO.

Dave previously was executive vice president and corporate treasurer of American Express. He has more than 40 years of experience in risk management, balance sheet management, funding and liquidity, and in integrating financial management with business strategy.

During his time at American Express, he played a key role in navigating the financial crisis of 2008-2009. He led a significant transformation of the company's funding profile and the transition of American Express into a bank holding company.

Prior to joining American Express in 1999, Dave spent time at Citicorp in its global consumer banking business and before that at the Ayco Corporation, now a part of Goldman Sachs.

Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of William & Mary and a Master of Management from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

Deanna Coloe serves as vice president and chief audit officer. In this role, she provides leadership and direction for Navient’s internal audit function with a focus on internal controls, risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance. She reports directly to the Audit Committee of Navient’s Board of Directors and brings more than 25 years of audit and financial services experience to her role.

Deanna was appointed chief audit officer in 2024. She previously held various roles on the internal audit team since joining the company in 2011. Prior to that, she held roles at Protiviti in internal audit and at American Express in the controllership department. She began her career in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche.

She holds a B.A. in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a certified internal auditor and a certified public accountant.

Deanna lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, two sons, and dogs. She enjoys being active and spends much of her free time cheering on her boys on the baseball field.

Joe Fisher serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer. In this role, he manages Navient’s financial strategies and operations, corporate development, and investor relations.

Joe was appointed CFO in 2020.  He previously held various roles including vice president of investor relations and corporate development since joining the company in 2002. He earned his B.S. in finance at the University of Pittsburgh.

He lives with his wife and three children in Northern Virginia and is an avid sports fan. Much of his spare time involves supporting his children’s sports activities of lacrosse, soccer, and basketball.

Joe is a Chartered Financial Analyst and serves on the board of Building Hope, an education nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for students and families in underserved communities.

David Green is executive vice president of Navient and CEO of Earnest, a fintech lender focused on education. David is responsible for Navient’s suite of education financing tools and services, which are offered under the Earnest and NaviRefi brands. He has broadened the scope of our impact, leading Earnest to become a top refinancer of student loans. Under his leadership, strategic initiatives include the acquisition of Going Merry, a national financial aid platform where students match to and apply for scholarships, institutional aid, and government grants through a single free application. He previously served as chief operating officer and chief product officer at Earnest, developing a keen sense for how to deliver on the company’s mission to make higher education attainable and affordable for everyone. During prior roles at Earnest, David oversaw lending product management, design, and engineering. He has also scaled the company from 20 employees to more than 250 today and is passionate about training teams. Earnest joined the Navient family of companies in 2018.

Previously, David founded Poplar Finance, a fintech startup focused on eliminating the need for large security deposits in residential rentals. And as the vice president of business operations at the American Mortgage Consultants, he managed large operations teams of 300+ remote employees.

An avid outdoorsman, David enjoys mountaineering, hiking, trail running, and camping. He serves as a mentor for First Round Fast Track, advising early-stage operational leaders. David received his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from George Washington University. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two young sons.

Steve Hauber serves as executive vice president and chief administrative officer. In this role, he is responsible for several oversight and corporate functions that support the company’s transition to a more focused, flexible, and streamlined organization. These include legal, risk, compliance, internal audit, human resources, and technology.

Most recently, Steve served as Navient’s chief risk and compliance officer, fostering a culture of accountability and sound credit, market, compliance, and operational performance. Previously, Steve served as Navient's chief audit officer, an independent role that reported directly to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.

Steve previously held roles in internal audit and credit risk management at Sallie Mae and worked in public accounting at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Steve spends his free time with his wife and two daughters. He also likes to run and read and is an avid sports fan.

Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Building Hope, an education nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for students and families in underserved communities.

Judah Holland serves as senior vice president of strategic initiatives. In her role, she leads enterprise transformation strategy development and execution. She brings more than 25 years of broad experience in operations leadership, enterprise strategic planning, transaction management, and technical deployment. In addition, Judah chairs Navient’s Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Council, an employee-led group that creates programs and activities that shape the organizational culture.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business from University of Phoenix, has a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University, and holds a certificate in International Women’s Health and Human Rights from Stanford University.

She is a founding board member and chair for Rise Up Woman International, a nonprofit organization that partners with local leaders in Central Africa to provide woman and girls with social and economic empowerment opportunities.

Judah lives with her husband and two daughters in Indiana and spends most of her free time traveling with friends and family.

John Kane serves as executive vice president and group president, business processing solutions. Our data driven business processing solutions enable our clients to focus on their missions and optimize their cash flow, and they enable individuals to successfully navigate complex programs, transactions, and decisions.

In 2008, John joined Sallie Mae to lead the asset recovery division, where he managed the development of a new loan modification program to assist student loan clients experiencing financial difficulties. In 2013, he oversaw a project to separate the company, creating Navient. Intense preparation led to a smooth transition, and in Navient's first year he served as chief operating officer.

John started his career as a customer assistance representative in a call center at MBNA, a credit card company that later became part of Bank of America.

A graduate from the University of Delaware with a degree in economics, John is an active New York sports fan who also enjoys spending time with friends and family, including his two children.

John serves on the board of the Freire Charter School Wilmington.

Matt Sheldon serves as senior vice president and general counsel, leading the company’s commitment to operate within the highest legal and regulatory standards.

Matt was appointed to the general counsel role in 2024. Since joining the company in 2013, Matt has held various other legal roles, including overseeing litigation and employment matters. Prior to joining Navient, Matt was a partner at Reed Smith LLP, a leading international law firm. He earned his J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law, and his bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Matt resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and two children and loves to spend time in the northern part of his beloved home state of Michigan.

Troy Standish serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Navient. Troy oversees Navient’s operations, our business processing solutions, and our outsourced student loan servicing relationships.

Troy joined the company in 2000, through the acquisition of Pioneer Credit Recovery. One of his first positions was in the call center helping clients with their loans. For the past 20+ years, he has held various operational leadership roles throughout the company.

He is an active volunteer in the greater Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, area. He serves as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission, a partnership of business leaders dedicated to making the success of every child in Pennsylvania a top priority. He has served as chair of the board of both the United Way of Wyoming Valley and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry.

Outside of work, Troy enjoys spending time with his wife and engaging in sports and activities with their three children. Troy is also an avid fly fisherman.