Heather Shawa has been with the Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) since 2015 and currently serves as the utility’s Assistant General Manager. Before being appointed to the Assistant General Manager, she served as the utility's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). She is responsible for overseeing the company’s supply chain, information technology, customer operations, business development, public relations, accounting, finance, and planning functions. Shawa oversaw the bond offering for the $500 million Delta Energy Park that replaced BWL’s coal-fired power station and served as executive sponsor for the $70M BSmart corporate technology program which added advanced metering, customer information system, GIS, and advanced distribution/outage management system.
She serves as the BWL corporate sponsor for ATHENA WIN and Advancing Women in Energy (AWE) memberships that provide women with mentorship and professional development opportunities. She also serves as the Board Vice President of Peckham Inc., a non-profit vocational rehabilitation organization that provides job training opportunities for people with significant disabilities and other barriers to employment. She previously served as a member of the City of Lansing’s Mayor’s Financial Health Team, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Board, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Michigan Capital Region Board of Directors, and is an active member of the Lansing Regional Chamber Political Action Committee.
Before joining BWL, Shawa served as the CFO and Vice President of Operations for Demmer Corporation, a privately held manufacturing company that served defense, automotive and aerospace industries. She was also part of the executive management of Demmer Investments, INC., which handled the acquisitions and portfolio for the Demmer family, which is still in operation today.
Shawa received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Northwood University and a Master’s of Science degree in business from Central Michigan University. She is a proud graduate of Waverly High School. In 2023, Shawa was recognized by Crain's Detroit as a Notable Leader for her work in the energy industry.