Comparison · 13 material differences
Detroit Economic 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 Detroit Economic Club
Business, government, academic and civic figures in the Detroit region who want access to the club's speaker programme, plus a large cohort of under-40 professionals
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
- Maximum age at joining — Detroit Economic Club: Young Leader membership requires the member to be under 40; theBoardlist: No published maximum age at joining.
- Gender — Detroit Economic 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".
- Geographic restriction — Detroit Economic Club: Non-Resident membership: individuals who live and work more than 50 miles from downtown Detroit; theBoardlist: No published geographic restriction.
- Annual dues — Detroit Economic Club: $150 a year; theBoardlist: Not publicly disclosed.
Side by side
| Detroit Economic Club | theBoardlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Networking organization | Networking organization |
| Founded | 1934 (Founded in 1934; Wikipedia names Allen Crow as founder.) | 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 | Detroit, United States | United States |
| Geographic footprint | Detroit and south-east Michigan, with a discounted non-resident category for people living and working more than 50 miles from downtown Detroit | An online marketplace, originally focused on the United States technology industry and later broadened across industries |
| Members | 3,500as of September 2026 | 5,000as of June 2020 |
| Chapters | A single-city club with no chapters. | No chapters; theBoardlist was a single online platform |
| Primary audience | Business, government, academic and civic figures in the Detroit region who want access to the club's speaker programme, plus a large cohort of under-40 professionals | Women executives seeking private and public company board seats, and the chief executives, investors and boards searching for candidates |
| Typical member | Membership spans corporate executives and professionals in the Detroit region, with dedicated discounted categories for clergy, full-time faculty at accredited institutions, government officials, non-profit employees, retirees over 60, and people based more than 50 miles away. Over a third of the membership is reported to be in the under-40 Young Leader Program. | 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 | ||
| Maximum age at joining | Young Leader membership requires the member to be under 40Includes all regular member benefits plus professional development programming.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published maximum age at joining |
| 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 ↗ |
| Geographic restriction | Non-Resident membership: individuals who live and work more than 50 miles from downtown Detroitverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published geographic restriction |
| Invitation required | No | Yes |
| Sponsor required | No | Yes |
| Application process | Membership is bought online through the club's membership pages by selecting a category. No sponsorship, interview or committee review is described in the published process. | 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; the published route is open paid enrolment. | 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 | $150 a yearRegular membershipverified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosed; no joining fee appears alongside the published dues.verified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Event costs | Not publicly disclosed on the membership page. Meeting attendance charges, if any, are handled at the event level.verified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Membership term | Annual | Not documented |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | About 35 meetings a season, typically breakfast or lunch events with a 20 to 30 minute speaker address followed by questions and networking | No published meeting programme; theBoardlist listed events but its core function was the online marketplace |
| Peer forums | Speaker meetings and the Young Leader Program; no confidential facilitated peer forum is published | No forums |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed; meetings are on-the-record events, many of which are covered by press | Not publicly disclosed |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Event-focused | Virtual |
| Confidential peer forums | No | No |
| Local chapters | No | No |
| Virtual membership | Not documented | Yes |
| Online community | Not documented | Partial |
| Member directory | Not documented | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Partial |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Partial | Partial |
| Leadership development | Partial | Partial |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | Not documented | No |
| Next-generation programming | Yes | 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: Detroit Economic Club · theBoardlist