Comparison · 14 material differences
Chief vs Forbes Councils
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
Forbes Councils
Owners, founders, partners and senior executives who want a bylined publishing platform on Forbes.com alongside a vetted online peer network
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; Forbes Councils: Owner, founder, partner, C-level executive, or vice president and above leading a region or division, in the council's field.
- Minimum company revenue — Chief: Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experience; Forbes Councils: "Your business generates a minimum of $1M USD in revenue".
- Minimum capital raised — Chief: No published minimum capital raised; Forbes Councils: "Your business has received a minimum of $1M USD in financing".
- Gender — Chief: A network for women leaders; Forbes Councils: 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.; Forbes Councils: Not publicly disclosed. The Business Council page confirms this is "a fee-based professional organization" offering "1-year and 2-year membership payment plans", and the membership agreement refers to "the then-current membership fee for each year of the Term", but no amount is published. Figures quoted on affiliate and agency blogs could not be independently verified..
Side by side
| Chief | Forbes Councils | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Boston, United States |
| Geographic footprint | United States, with four physical Clubhouses (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) and virtual programming | Nine online councils with no local chapters; the operator, Community.co, is based in Boston, Massachusetts |
| 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. Forbes Councils publishes member directories per council but no total. Community.co, which operates Forbes Councils and several sister communities, states "25k+ Members to date" across "50+ Communities", which is not a Forbes Councils figure. |
| Chapters | 4 | No chapters; the councils are online communities |
| Primary audience | Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators. | Owners, founders, partners and senior executives who want a bylined publishing platform on Forbes.com alongside a vetted online peer network |
| 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 owners, founders, C-level executives, partners and vice presidents who lead a region or division, drawn from the industry each council covers. The financial test is set at the company level rather than personal wealth: US$500,000 or US$1,000,000 in annual revenue or capital raised, depending on the council. |
| 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 ↗ | Owner, founder, partner, C-level executive, or vice president and above leading a region or division, in the council's fieldThe Technology Council specifies "founders, partners, and CEOs of technology companies, C-level technology executives such as CTOs and CIOs, and VPs of technology teams"verified 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 ↗ | "Your business generates a minimum of $1M USD in revenue"Applies to the Agency, Business Development, Communications, Finance, Human Resources and Technology Councilsverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Minimum capital raised | No published minimum capital raised | "Your business has received a minimum of $1M USD in financing"Alternative to the revenue test for the senior-level councilsverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Gender | A network for women leadersChief describes itself as a community of women leaders.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published gender |
| Industry restriction | No published industry restriction | "No MLM/direct sales, gambling, adult entertainment, adult websites, adult products, or cannabis companies are allowed"Certain marketing agencies (link sellers, guaranteed media placements) and some cryptocurrency companies, such as those attached to initial coin offerings, are also excludedverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| 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. | Candidates apply online to a specific council. A selection committee reviews the application against the published criteria and, if approved, issues a membership invitation. Payment is taken after acceptance, for a one-year or two-year term. Applications are made in an individual's own name, not a company's, even where an employer pays the fee. |
| 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. Forbes Councils states that applications are vetted by a selection committee and that acceptance is at the company's sole discretion, 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. The Business Council page confirms this is "a fee-based professional organization" offering "1-year and 2-year membership payment plans", and the membership agreement refers to "the then-current membership fee for each year of the Term", but no amount is published. Figures quoted on affiliate and agency blogs could not be independently verified.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. The membership agreement states a one-time initiation fee, where applicable, is "non-refundable and will not be refunded once paid regardless of termination or cancellation".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 terms, renewing automatically for equal periods |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Six guided Core peer-advisory sessions a year, or four executive coaching sessions, plus year-round events and summits | Monthly Expert Panel cycles and private virtual events; 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 join interest-based and geography-based online groups |
| 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 · Forbes Councils