Swearer Center for Public Service

Savanna Illinger (she/her) is a Community-Engaged Learning Manager at the Swearer Center for Public Service, where she oversees the Bonner Community Fellowship and supports students in building long-term relationships with community partners across Providence and Rhode Island. Her work centers on student growth, reflection and helping students connect their values, identities and lived experiences to community-engaged learning.

Savanna joined the Swearer Center for Public Service in 2022 as Communications Coordinator, working across programs and university partners to support storytelling, engagement, and community-centered communications. Through that work, she built strong relationships across the Swearer and Brown and developed a deeper connection to its student and community partnerships.

Before joining Brown, Savanna worked at Sociedad Latina in Boston, where she managed the College & Career Pathways program, which supports multilingual, first-generation and Latine youth from middle school through early college. She worked closely with students and families around academic advising, postsecondary access, youth leadership and social-emotional development, while partnering with schools and community organizations across Boston.

Savanna earned her B.A. from Boston University, where her involvement with the Intergenerational Literacy Program and the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground shaped her long-standing commitment to education access and community-centered learning.

After a decade in Boston, Savanna is grateful and excited to be in Providence. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, crocheting, reading and spending time with her husband, family and cat, Jellybean.