New Finance Director appointed: City Council selects Kiran Bawa
Posted on 05/02/2025

City Council appoints Kiran Bawa as Piedmont’s next Finance Director

Published May 2, 2025

The City Council has appointed Kiran Bawa as Piedmont’s next Finance Director. New Finance Director Kiran Bawa

With over two decades of public sector finance experience, Bawa brings deep expertise in municipal operations, financial management and strategic planning. Bawa will begin her service with the City on July 2, 2025.

The appointment marks a return to Piedmont for Bawa, who previously served as the City’s Finance Director from 2016-2017. For the past eight years, she has been Finance Director for the City of Falls Church, VA, where she oversaw a $137 million General Fund budget. 

“I’m thrilled to welcome Kiran as Piedmont’s new Finance Director,” said Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen. “We are incredibly fortunate to have her stepping into this role. Kiran shares our priorities of fiscal responsibility, transparency and public engagement. In addition to her depth of experience, she is already familiar with our community and will be able to hit the ground running.”

Before joining Piedmont in 2016, Bawa served as Budget Director for the City of Oakland, where she implemented innovative budget balancing measures to expand services while addressing ongoing financial obligations, and as Manager of Capital Planning & Grants at AC Transit, where she was responsible for the District’s $500 million capital budget.

Bawa was drawn back to Piedmont by the engaged community and the City’s thoughtful approach to long-term financial planning, noting that she particularly looks forward to working with the City Council and the Budget Advisory and Financial Planning Committee to develop the City’s annual budgets. “I’m passionate about the budget process because it’s how we bring community priorities to life,” said Bawa. “Piedmont’s commitment to transparency and collaboration makes it a privilege to return. I’m honored and deeply grateful for the opportunity.

As Finance Director, Bawa will oversee citywide finance functions, including accounting, payroll, auditing, purchasing, investments, and the development of the City’s annual budget.

The City engaged executive recruitment firm Peckham and McKenney to conduct a search to fill the position last year after former Finance Director Mike Szczech announced his intention to retire in January 2025. Since January, Interim Finance Director Lisa Malek-Zadeh has overseen Finance Department functions on a temporary basis. With Malek-Zadeh’s term with the City now concluded, Szczech is anticipated to return on a limited basis to support the remainder of the City’s FY2025-2026 budget process.