Comparison · 8 material differences
Athena Alliance vs Chief
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Networking organization
Verified September 2026 Athena Alliance
Experienced, high-achieving women and non-binary executives, board directors, investors and founders pursuing board seats, portfolio careers or a career transition
Networking organization
Chief
Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators.
What the records say
- Role or title: Athena Alliance: No single job title is required; Athena states it assesses "the substance of your experience - scope of leadership, influence, and accomplishments" rather than matching a fixed list of titles; Chief: C-suite route: CXO title at an organisation with 1,000+ employees, or a board seat at a public company.
- Minimum company revenue: Athena Alliance: No published minimum company revenue; Chief: Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experience.
- Gender: Athena Alliance: "Individual Athena membership is only for women and non-binary people. Our enterprise offerings are for cohorts of both women and men."; Chief: A network for women leaders.
- Annual dues: Athena Alliance: $6,000 a year; Chief: Not published on Chief's own membership, application or FAQ pages. Reported figures for 2026 cluster around US$5,900 a year for the Executive Education and Executive Advisory tiers, with Core tiers reported higher; earlier reporting cited US$5,400 for vice-president level and US$7,800 for C-suite, and Fortune reported US$5,800 in 2023. Chief confirms none of these figures publicly..
Side by side
| Athena Alliance | Chief | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | Not documented | 2019 (Launched in January 2019 in New York by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan.) |
| Headquarters | United States | New York, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Predominantly virtual, with more than 100 in-person gatherings a year across the United States and seven rotating summits; the team is described as globally located and location is stated not to be a barrier to membership | United States, with four physical Clubhouses (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) and virtual programming |
| Members | Not publicly disclosed. Athena publishes programme statistics - over 600 women supported to boards, 16,000+ salon participants, 3,000+ peer group participants - but no current member total. | Not currently disclosed. Chief's site states members represent "10,000+" companies and 67 per cent of the Fortune 100, and that 44 per cent of members are in the C-suite, but publishes no current total. Wikipedia records 20,000 members as of October 2022. |
| Chapters | No chapters | 4 |
| Primary audience | Experienced, high-achieving women and non-binary executives, board directors, investors and founders pursuing board seats, portfolio careers or a career transition | Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators. |
| Typical member | "Athena members are experienced, high-achieving women who are actively exploring and pursuing their next chapter - whether that means taking on a board seat, shifting industries, starting something new, or leveling up their current work." Most have significant leadership experience; Athena states no single job title is required and that it assesses scope of leadership, influence and accomplishments instead. Average member tenure is 3.4 years. | Chief describes four member journeys: C-suite (CXO title at organisations with 1,000 or more employees, or a public-company board seat), senior leaders and executives (CEO, CXO, VP or SVP and founders at mid-market to enterprise firms), and builders and navigators (solopreneurs, consultants and fractional leaders with prior CXO or VP-plus experience, or a business with US$2 million or more in revenue or venture funding). Chief states more than 60 per cent of members are sponsored by their employers. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | No single job title is required; Athena states it assesses "the substance of your experience - scope of leadership, influence, and accomplishments" rather than matching a fixed list of titlesMembers in career transition are explicitly welcomedverified September 2026 · source ↗ | C-suite route: CXO title at an organisation with 1,000+ employees, or a board seat at a public companySenior Director titles at companies with 10,000+ employees are reviewed case by case.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Minimum company revenue | No published minimum company revenue | Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experienceApplies to solopreneurs, independents, consultants, founders and fractional leaders.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Gender | "Individual Athena membership is only for women and non-binary people. Our enterprise offerings are for cohorts of both women and men."verified September 2026 · source ↗ | A network for women leadersChief describes itself as a community of women leaders.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | Three steps: complete a brief application, schedule a consultation with a Membership Consultant, then receive a personalised membership invitation. Prospective members can explore Athena beforehand through the free Portfolio of Impact assessment or by attending selected public virtual salon sessions. | Candidates apply online and Chief reviews the application against its published criteria. Qualified applicants are contacted for a 30-minute call, typically within a few business days, to discuss goals and Chief's offering. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed. Athena describes an application and consultation process leading to a membership invitation, but publishes no acceptance rate. | Not publicly disclosed. Chief states it "previously had a waitlist, but we've since moved to an application-based model"; Fortune reported a waitlist of 60,000 in 2023. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $6,000 a year"Athena membership costs $6,000 annually. It includes access to virtual salons and peer groups, in-person summits and gatherings, a full content library, Athena Academy courses, and a dedicated Member Engagement Advisor." The term runs twelve months from activation and renews automatically using the payment method on file, with reminders sent in advance.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not published on Chief's own membership, application or FAQ pages. Reported figures for 2026 cluster around US$5,900 a year for the Executive Education and Executive Advisory tiers, with Core tiers reported higher; earlier reporting cited US$5,400 for vice-president level and US$7,800 for C-suite, and Fortune reported US$5,800 in 2023. Chief confirms none of these figures publicly.verified September 2026 |
| Programme fee | Additional Academy courses and coaching sessions with Athena's Expert Strategists can be purchased beyond what membership covers; prices are not published.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Chief does not publish pricing on its public pages; more than 60 per cent of memberships are employer-sponsored. |
| Membership term | Twelve months from activation, renewing automatically | Annual, with the option at renewal to switch between the Core and Coaching offerings |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Monthly salons and peer groups, more than 100 in-person gatherings a year and seven rotating summits | Six guided Core peer-advisory sessions a year, or four executive coaching sessions, plus year-round events and summits |
| Peer forums | Peer groups and peer networking circles alongside virtual salons; each member also works with a dedicated Member Engagement Advisor | Core groups are curated by member journey (C-suite, Executive Leader, Builder, Navigator) and professional goals; a member testimonial on Chief's site describes a group of about ten. |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed | Core sessions are described as confidential peer-advisory sessions; Chief does not publish its confidentiality terms. |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Virtual, Cohort-based, Event-focused | Clubhouse premises, Cohort-based, Virtual, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Yes |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | Partial | Partial |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | Partial | No |
| Investment discussions | Partial | No |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | Not documented |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Athena Alliance · Chief