Rachael Heisler was elected Controller for the City of Pittsburgh in 2023; she is the first woman and youngest person to serve in this city-wide position. From 2021 through 2023, she served as Deputy Controller under then-Controller Michael Lamb. An expert in sustainable public finance, she spent seven years as a senior advisor at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the country’s leading federal fiscal watchdog group, running the organization’s external affairs efforts. She served on the staff of Congressman Jason Altmire for six years, and she worked on the inaugural campaign of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

Controller Heisler is on the board of the Northside Food Pantry Advisors, the Allegheny YMCA, Cafe Momentum PGH, and Pittsburgh’s Jewish Family and Community Services. She serves as a Pennsylvania representative with the United States Navy’s Community Ambassador Program, is a 2022-23 Wechsler Fellow with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and the chair of the City of Pittsburgh’s 22nd Ward Democratic Committee.

She lives in Pittsburgh’s Central Northside neighborhood. Heisler has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Penn State University.