Comparison · 10 material differences
Chief vs Vistage
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.
Peer advisory
Vistage
CEOs, business owners and senior executives of companies with US$5 million or more in annual revenue.
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; Vistage: CEO, founder or owner for core membership; separate tracks for C-level (non-CEO), executive VP and vice-president/division-head roles.
- Minimum company revenue — Chief: Builder route: US$2,000,000+ annual revenue or venture funding, or prior CXO/VP-plus experience; Vistage: US$5,000,000+ in annual revenue for core CEO membership.
- Gender — Chief: A network for women leaders; Vistage: 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.; Vistage: Not publicly disclosed. Vistage publishes no pricing on its site; dues are quoted by the local Chair and vary by programme, role and company size. A 2026 secondary estimate (leadersadapt.com) puts CEO peer-group dues near US$1,380 a month, about US$16,500 a year, with a one-time fee of roughly US$2,500; Vistage does not confirm these figures..
Side by side
| Chief | Vistage | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Peer advisory |
| Founded | 2019 (Launched in January 2019 in New York by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan.) | 1957 (Founded as The Executive Committee (TEC) when Bob Nourse brought together several Milwaukee-area executives; renamed Vistage globally in 2006.) |
| Headquarters | New York, United States | San Diego, United States |
| Geographic footprint | United States, with four physical Clubhouses (New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) and virtual programming | Operates in 40 countries, with peer groups meeting locally in cities rather than through member-run chapters |
| 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. | 45,000as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 4 | Not applicable. Vistage has no member-run chapters; members join a local peer advisory group convened and led by a Vistage Chair. Vistage does not publish a group count. |
| Primary audience | Senior women executives with at least fifteen years of leadership experience, from C-suite officers to founders and independent operators. | CEOs, business owners and senior executives of companies with US$5 million or more in annual revenue. |
| 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 decision-makers at small and mid-sized private companies. Vistage frames its core member as generating "$5M+ in annual revenue" and facing the operational complexity that comes with that scale; separate programmes exist for non-CEO executives and emerging leaders. |
| 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, founder or owner for core membership; separate tracks for C-level (non-CEO), executive VP and vice-president/division-head rolesverified 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 ↗ | US$5,000,000+ in annual revenue for core CEO membershipVistage frames this as the profile it serves rather than a hard rule; other programmes exist for smaller businesses and non-CEO executives.verified 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. | Prospective members complete an application form and are then contacted by a local Vistage Chair, who interviews them and decides whether to place them in a group. There is no published central admissions committee. |
| 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 |
| 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. Vistage publishes no pricing on its site; dues are quoted by the local Chair and vary by programme, role and company size. A 2026 secondary estimate (leadersadapt.com) puts CEO peer-group dues near US$1,380 a month, about US$16,500 a year, with a one-time fee of roughly US$2,500; Vistage does not confirm these figures.verified September 2026 |
| Membership term | Annual, with the option at renewal to switch between the Core and Coaching offerings | Not documented |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Six guided Core peer-advisory sessions a year, or four executive coaching sessions, plus year-round events and summits | Regular peer group meetings, generally monthly, plus one-to-one coaching sessions with the Chair |
| 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. | Peer advisory groups of 12-16 CEOs, business owners or key executives drawn from non-competing industries, facilitated by a Vistage Chair. |
| Confidentiality | Core sessions are described as confidential peer-advisory sessions; Chief does not publish its confidentiality terms. | Groups are described as confidential; Vistage does not publish its confidentiality terms. |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Clubhouse premises, Cohort-based, Virtual, Event-focused | Forum-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Yes | Yes |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Partial |
| 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 | No | No |
| Investment discussions | No | Not documented |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | Not documented | No |
| Networking emphasis | High | Medium |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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