Comparison · 18 material differences
Chief vs Commonwealth Club World Affairs
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 Chief
Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators.
Networking organization
Commonwealth Club World Affairs
The general public in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through broadcast and podcast distribution, a national audience; membership is open to anyone
What the records say
- Role or title — Chief: C-suite route: CXO title at an organisation with 1,000+ employees, or a board seat at a public company; Commonwealth Club World Affairs: No published role or title.
- Minimum company revenue — Chief: Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experience; Commonwealth Club World Affairs: No published minimum company revenue.
- Gender — Chief: A network for women leaders; Commonwealth Club World Affairs: No published gender.
- Annual dues — 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.; Commonwealth Club World Affairs: $135 a year.
Side by side
| Chief | Commonwealth Club World Affairs | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | 2019 (Launched in January 2019 in New York by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan.) | 1903 (Founded on 3 February 1903 by San Francisco Chronicle agriculture editor Edward F. Adams, per the Club's own history.) |
| Headquarters | New York, United States | San Francisco, United States |
| Geographic footprint | United States, with four physical Clubhouses (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) and virtual programming | San Francisco Bay Area — headquarters at 110 The Embarcadero plus volunteer-run regional chapters in the East Bay, Marin County, Napa Valley and the Peninsula, and a Silicon Valley programme; national reach through radio, television and podcasts |
| Members | 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. | 20,000as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 4 | Not published as a number. The Club names volunteer-run regional chapters in the East Bay, Marin County, Napa Valley and the Peninsula alongside its San Francisco headquarters and Silicon Valley programming, but gives no total. |
| Primary audience | Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators. | The general public in the San Francisco Bay Area and, through broadcast and podcast distribution, a national audience; membership is open to anyone |
| Typical member | 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. | Members are the general public rather than a screened cohort. The published tiers accommodate individuals, two people at one address, small groups, students and educators, single-issue supporters through the Climate One programme, and companies buying access for employees. A Leadership Circle from $1,000 upwards functions as a donor programme with escalating access to speakers. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | 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 ↗ | No published role or title |
| 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 ↗ | No published minimum company revenue |
| Gender | A network for women leadersChief describes itself as a community of women leaders.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published gender |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | 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. | Membership is bought online by selecting a plan; auto-renewal on the annual renewal date is an option at signup. Student and educator applicants apply through a separate form. There is no sponsorship, interview or committee review. |
| Selectivity | 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. | Not selective. Membership is open to all and most events are also open to non-members who buy tickets. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | 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 | $135 a yearIndividual membership, annual plan ($13 a month monthly, cancel anytime). Includes one 30 percent discounted ticket per event, excluding special events.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | Chief does not publish pricing on its public pages; more than 60 per cent of memberships are employer-sponsored. | Not publicly disclosed; no joining fee appears alongside the published dues.verified September 2026 |
| Membership term | Annual, with the option at renewal to switch between the Core and Coaching offerings | Annual or monthly; annual memberships can be set to auto-renew and monthly plans can be cancelled at any time |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Six guided Core peer-advisory sessions a year, or four executive coaching sessions, plus year-round events and summits | Hundreds of events a year, in person and online, at the San Francisco headquarters, the regional chapters and Silicon Valley |
| Peer forums | 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. | Member-led forums organised by subject, plus volunteer-run regional chapters; no confidential facilitated peer forum |
| Confidentiality | Core sessions are described as confidential peer-advisory sessions; Chief does not publish its confidentiality terms. | None; programmes are public and are broadcast on radio and television and distributed as podcasts |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Clubhouse premises, Cohort-based, Virtual, Event-focused | Event-focused, Chapter-based, Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | No |
| Local chapters | No | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Partial |
| Member directory | Yes | No |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | No |
| Retreats | Partial | No |
| Travel | No | Yes |
| Family programming | No | Partial |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | Partial |
| Next-generation programming | No | Yes |
| Investment discussions | No | No |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | Not documented | Yes |
| Networking emphasis | High | Low |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Medium |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Chief · Commonwealth Club World Affairs