Building industry-focused private equity investment firm Building Industry Partners (BIP) appointed Toni Burke to the role of head of strategic and investor relations. In the newly created position, Burke will oversee the expansion and operationalization of BIP’s strategic partner and investor base, both from within and outside the U.S. building industry.
The company said the appointment of Burke supports the “scaling and evolution” of BIP’s business model. In 2020, BIP broadened its vision to include contributing to elevating the industry’s employee value proposition. To help realize this expanded vision, BIP is “championing broad-based employee ownership and advancing human capital management practices,” including recruiting, retaining, and developing talent, at its portfolio companies.
“BIP’s history of success is a testament to its industry focus, vision, and commitment to excellence,” Burke said in a news release. “Through it’s go-forward people-focused investment strategy, BIP intends to be a force multiplier for good by building businesses that invest in their employees’ success and share with them the equity value they helped to create. I am excited to join the team and collaborate for further success.”
Burke most recently led sustainability for SAP’s customer experience line of business. The former software executive helped launch SAP’s cloud for sustainable enterprise. As a senior advisor to SAP’s CEO and liaison to several foreign heads of state, Burke was responsible for creating strategic partnerships with the G20 and enterprises that drove more than $1 billion in business impact.
Before her tenure with SAP, Burker led City Year and the Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership Foundation where she built strong public-private partnerships and invested in social and economic impact, according to BIP.
“As we look to champion greater alignment of interests among businesses and their employees, affecting industry-wide change will require scaling our strategic ecosystem of purpose-aligned partners, advisors, and investors,” BIP founder and managing partner Matt Ogden said. “We could not imagine a better leader than Toni to take on this mission-critical role. She has spent the better part of her career building things from the ground up and driving impact at scale.”
Boston-based BIP has been involved in the formation of several leading industry players over the past decade, including US LBM, Kodiak Building Partners, Homewood Holdings, U.S. Fence Solutions/Binford Supply, United Cabinet Holdings, and Rugby Architectural Building Products.
BIP also founded Southeast Building Supply Interests in July 2021 with the acquisition of Warner Robins Building Supply, Henson Building Materials, and Mountain Building Supply. In July 2022, BIP founded four-unit, California-based LBM platform West Coast Lumber. The firm also operates North American Specialty Laminations, a profile wrapping and specialty manufacturing company serving the window, door, cabinet, furniture, and architectural millwork industries.
