B&W appoints a new Baird to the board, promotes president
Chicago’s largest indie brokerage continues its family-led tradition as Lucy Baird joins the C-suite and board, while Laura Ellis takes on a new role.
Baird & Warner, the country's longest-running family-owned brokerage, has introduced a sixth generation of leadership to its board, the firm announced today. In addition, longtime company executive Laura Ellis has been promoted to chief revenue officer.
Lucy Baird, daughter of President and CEO Steve Baird, has been named chief stewardship officer and vice chair of the board. While she is new to those roles, she has been involved with the brokerage for 10 years, serving as the firm's historian and head of Good Will Works, its philanthropic initiative. Her expanded responsibilities "underscore a governance strategy to sustain Baird & Warner's independence and family-owned business model," the company said.
"In contrast to Wall Street-backed firms, our independence allows us to make decisions based on what is best for our agents and their clients," Steve Baird said in the announcement. "We are not thinking in terms of quarters, but generations. Our goal is to ensure the business is strong and well-governed, not just today, but long into the future," he added.
Lucy Baird called the appointments "a natural progression" after supporting the company's charitable work for the past decade. "I feel a deep responsibility to honor the legacy my family has built over more than 170 years," she said. "This company has always been guided by doing what is right for our people, our clients and our communities, and the creation of a chief stewardship officer further formalizes a commitment to those guiding principles," she added.
Laura Ellis, who has been with the firm for nearly three decades, has taken on the new title of chief revenue officer after most recently serving as Baird & Warner's chief strategy officer and president of residential sales. The expanded role gives Ellis oversight of all sales operations across brokerage, mortgage and title, a move aimed at advancing the firm's integrated model, the company said.
"One of the things that makes Baird & Warner unique is how intentionally we bring all aspects of the transaction together to support both our agents and their clients," Ellis said. "I'm excited to expand that work across every part of the business, strengthening collaboration between teams and continuing to build a more seamless and supportive experience that helps our agents succeed."
The timing of the appointments, Steve Baird noted, reflect the changing real estate landscape. "Now more than ever, the values of independence, accessibility of leadership and doing the right thing are necessary in our industry. These new roles and the people filling them not only exemplify those values, but they also apply them in ways that are relevant to the challenges agents and brokerages are facing today."