Information from Highline Community College

Community leader Sili Savusa has been appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to serve on the Highline Community College Board of Trustees.

Savusa is currently the executive director of the White Center Community Development Association, which promotes the development of White Center through authentic leadership opportunities and community-led, neighborhood initiatives. She also serves on the Governor’s Commission on Closing the Achievement Gap, the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs committee and Community Center for Education Results steering committee.

“We are pleased to have Sili as our newest trustee,” said HCC President, Dr. Jack Bermingham. “Her dedication to serving diverse communities in our region and her leadership experience at the policy level will be a great asset to the College.”

Previously, Savusa served as the Highline School Board Director and Family Center Coordinator for Southwest Youth and Family Services. She is also the founder of the first Samoan/Pacific Islander Parent Teacher Student Association in the nation, which works to address education issues impacting Pacific Islander students and their families.

Savusa joins current chair Bob Roegner, vice chair Fred Mendoza, and trustees Dan Altmayer and Debrena Jackson Gandy on the college’s Board.

The Board of Trustees governs Highline and guides the direction of the college. They set college policies, hire the president and approve budgets. Trustees must reside in the college district’s boundaries.

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 18,000 students and 350,000 alumni, it is one of the state’s largest institutions of higher education. The college offers a wide range of academic transfer and professional-technical education programs, with day, evening and weekend classes. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida and Washington state poet laureate Sam Green.