Comparison · 13 material differences
Chief vs Fast Company Executive Board
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
Fast Company Executive Board
Senior executives, founders, business owners and recognised industry experts who want a bylined platform on FastCompany.com
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; Fast Company Executive Board: CEO, C-suite or senior-level executive; vice president or above leading a region or division; founder or co-founder.
- Minimum company revenue: Chief: Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experience; Fast Company Executive Board: "CEO, C-Suite, or senior-level executive of a company generating $3M+ in annual revenue".
- Minimum capital raised: Chief: No published minimum capital raised; Fast Company Executive Board: "$2M+ in total institutional funding".
- Gender: Chief: A network for women leaders; Fast Company Executive Board: 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.; Fast Company Executive Board: Not publicly disclosed. Fast Company offers a one-year membership and a discounted two-year membership but publishes no prices; third-party estimates could not be independently verified..
Side by side
| Chief | Fast Company Executive Board | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | 2019 (Launched in January 2019 in New York by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan.) | Not documented |
| Headquarters | New York, United States | United States |
| Geographic footprint | United States, with four physical Clubhouses (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) and virtual programming | Online community with no local chapters; operated in-house by Fast Company, part of Mansueto Ventures, LLC |
| 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. | Not publicly disclosed |
| Chapters | 4 | No chapters |
| Primary audience | Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators. | Senior executives, founders, business owners and recognised industry experts who want a bylined platform on FastCompany.com |
| 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. | CEOs, C-suite and senior executives at companies with at least US$3m in annual revenue; vice presidents and above who lead a region or division at companies of the same size; founders of companies with at least US$2m in revenue or institutional funding; and nonprofit founders at organisations with at least US$1m in revenue. An alternative expertise track admits professional speakers, published authors and regular columnists. |
| 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 ↗ | CEO, C-suite or senior-level executive; vice president or above leading a region or division; founder or co-founderverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| 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 ↗ | "CEO, C-Suite, or senior-level executive of a company generating $3M+ in annual revenue"Also "Vice President or above who leads a region or division for a company generating $3M+ in annual revenue"verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Minimum capital raised | No published minimum capital raised | "$2M+ in total institutional funding"Alternative to the founder revenue testverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| 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 by application only. Candidates complete an online application, which is vetted against the published qualifications. Fast Company states every application is reviewed to ensure members meet the criteria. Accepted applicants choose a one-year or discounted two-year membership and pay before access begins. |
| 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 publicly disclosed. Fast Company states "Every application is vetted to ensure members meet strict qualifications" but publishes no acceptance rate. |
| 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 | Not publicly disclosed. Fast Company offers a one-year membership and a discounted two-year membership but publishes no prices; third-party estimates could not be independently verified.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Membership term | Annual, with the option at renewal to switch between the Core and Coaching offerings | One-year or two-year membership terms |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Six guided Core peer-advisory sessions a year, or four executive coaching sessions, plus year-round events and summits | Virtual events and Expert Panels; no scheduled local meetings |
| 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. | No facilitated peer forums; members use interactive online groups and chat |
| Confidentiality | Core sessions are described as confidential peer-advisory sessions; Chief does not publish its confidentiality terms. | Not publicly disclosed |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Clubhouse premises, Cohort-based, Virtual, Event-focused | Virtual, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Partial |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Yes |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Partial |
| Leadership development | Yes | Partial |
| Retreats | Partial | No |
| Travel | No | Partial |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | No | No |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | Not documented | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | Medium |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Chief · Fast Company Executive Board