The Economic Club of Chicago

The Economic Club of Chicago is a nonpartisan speaker club founded in 1927 and reporting 2,400 members, about 70 per cent of them C-suite executives. Its main programme is keynote addresses at downtown Chicago venues, with recordings published publicly; eight US presidents and more than ten visiting heads of state have spoken. Alongside the keynotes the Club runs member forums several times a year on business, government and societal issues, and smaller member-driven gatherings it calls Member Exchanges. Admission runs through a defined six-step process: two current members must sponsor the candidate, both write letters of support, the candidate attends a Club meeting, a membership subcommittee may interview them, and the Membership Committee elects candidates at quarterly meetings. Unusually for a club of its type, the published criteria include a numeric company test as well as a leadership test, and civic engagement is stated as a pillar of membership. The Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and reports a 92 per cent membership renewal rate.

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The Club stages keynote programmes at downtown Chicago venues, which are also posted to its YouTube channel. Several times a year members take part in forums on current issues, and smaller Member Exchanges give members a more informal setting. More than 300 member volunteers help run programming. Membership is elected quarterly.

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Around 70 per cent of members are C-suite executives. Candidates are expected to have operational oversight with profit-and-loss responsibility at a company generating at least US$10 million in annual revenue and employing 25 or more people, and to have a record of civic engagement. Government and nonprofit candidates are assessed under separate criteria.

Of the three big US economic clubs, Chicago publishes the most explicit entry criteria: C-suite or direct report to the chief executive, operational P&L responsibility, and a company with at least US$10 million in revenue and 25 employees. That test is low enough to admit heads of mid-sized firms rather than only large-cap executives, which explains a membership of 2,400 rather than a few hundred. The civic-engagement requirement is genuine and is what most distinguishes the Club from a pure speaker series. What is not published is price: neither the site nor the membership brochure names a dues figure, so cost must be established through a sponsor. The process is also slower than most, with sponsorship, letters, a meeting visit, a possible interview and quarterly elections, so entry can take the better part of a year.

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