Comparison · 14 material differences
The CMO Club vs theBoardlist
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 The CMO Club
Chief marketing officers and senior marketing leaders at established brands
Networking organization
theBoardlist
Women executives seeking private and public company board seats, and the chief executives, investors and boards searching for candidates
What the records say
- Role or title: The CMO Club: Chief marketing officer or equivalent senior marketing leader; theBoardlist: No published role or title.
- Gender: The CMO Club: No published gender; theBoardlist: The candidate pool was for women; theBoardlist described itself as connecting "highly qualified women across industries with private and public board opportunities".
- Annual dues: The CMO Club: Not publicly disclosed at any stage of the organisation's history.; theBoardlist: Not publicly disclosed.
Side by side
| The CMO Club | theBoardlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | Not documented | 2015 (Launched on 15 July 2015 as the first initiative of the #ChoosePossibility Project, founded by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, per Wikipedia. theBoardlist's own site carried a "© 2018 theBoardlist" notice.) |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Geographic footprint | At acquisition in 2020, more than 30 global chapters. The successor InspireCMO runs member programmes at chapters across the United States; a current chapter list is not published on the public site. | An online marketplace, originally focused on the United States technology industry and later broadened across industries |
| Members | 650as of March 2020 | 5,000as of June 2020 |
| Chapters | 30 | No chapters; theBoardlist was a single online platform |
| Primary audience | Chief marketing officers and senior marketing leaders at established brands | Women executives seeking private and public company board seats, and the chief executives, investors and boards searching for candidates |
| Typical member | Members were CMOs and senior marketing leaders at large consumer and business brands. The club's defining rule was that vendors and press were excluded, so members could speak without being sold to or quoted. | Senior women executives nominated by chief executives, investors and other business leaders for board service. Candidates did not self-nominate: entry to the talent pool came through peer endorsement by a recommender in theBoardlist's community. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | Chief marketing officer or equivalent senior marketing leaderThe historic club and its successor both position membership as CMO-level. No formal written eligibility test is published.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published role or title |
| Gender | No published gender | The candidate pool was for women; theBoardlist described itself as connecting "highly qualified women across industries with private and public board opportunities"Recommenders and searching companies were not restricted by genderverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | Not documented | Yes |
| Sponsor required | No | Yes |
| Application process | For the successor InspireCMO: complete an online interest form, speak with the chapter's executive director, then begin attending member programmes. No public application process survives for the original CMO Club. | Women entered the candidate pool by being nominated by a recommender from theBoardlist's community of chief executives, investors and senior leaders. Nominated candidates were then encouraged to complete a profile and connect their LinkedIn account so that searching companies could find them. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed. | Not publicly disclosed as a rate. theBoardlist reported that more than 1,400 executives had nominated more than 2,100 women by November 2017 and that it had influenced more than 100 board placements. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed at any stage of the organisation's history.verified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Membership term | Not documented | Not documented |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Chapter programmes through the year plus regular virtual strategy calls and peer-led sessions, per the successor organisation | No published meeting programme; theBoardlist listed events but its core function was the online marketplace |
| Peer forums | Member-led chapter circles rather than facilitated closed forums; each community has an assigned executive director | No forums |
| Confidentiality | The original club's premise was a room without vendors or press. The successor publishes a code of conduct but no forum confidentiality rule | Not publicly disclosed |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Event-focused, Virtual | Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | No |
| Local chapters | Yes | No |
| Virtual membership | Partial | Yes |
| Online community | Yes | Partial |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Partial |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Partial |
| Leadership development | Yes | Partial |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | Partial | No |
| Investment discussions | No | No |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | Medium |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: The CMO Club · theBoardlist