Thalassa Naylor

Thalassa has four decades of experience working in the field of Financial Aid. She began her financial aid career as a peer counselor at the University of Colorado, and then worked as a financial aid administrator for several colleges and universities in southern California. She transitioned into student lending, starting at Wells Fargo, and then was employed for 19 years with Sallie Mae. During her years in student finance, she held a variety of roles including Assistant VP Student Lending, Vice President of Customer Services, Vice President of Campus Sales, and Business Development Manager. 

Thalassa has been a longtime volunteer for professional associations such as the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (CASFAA), the Western Association of Student Financial Aid (WASFAA) and the Western Association of College and Admissions Counselors (WACAC). She has presented financial aid and financial literacy sessions at numerous conferences and learning events. She sits on CASFAA’s Executive Council as the Training Chair and in 2022 received the association’s highest award, the Lifetime Membership Award. In 2024, she received the CASFAA Executive Council Honors Award for 12 years of providing the association with training support and participating on the executive board. Thalassa also worked with the Western Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (WASFAA) where she spent seven years on the WASFAA Training Committee, including two as co-chair.

Thalassa has a BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA from California State University, Northridge. She received her College & Career Counseling Certificate from the University of California, Berkeley Extension in 2023.