Chief (women's network)

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Chief is a private, members‑only women’s business networking organization for senior executives. It started in January 2019 in New York City, founded by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan. The network runs online access, hosted events, and five clubhouses in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. Its goal is to help women reach and stay at the top through mentoring, workshops, workspaces, and curated events.

Membership has grown rapidly. It began with about 400 members in March 2019, reached 2,000 after a year, 12,000 two years later, and about 20,000 by October 2022. Most members work for large companies, and roughly 70% are sponsored by their employers. The network is open to women and non-binary executives at vice president level or higher.

In 2019, Chief raised $22 million in a Series A round led by board members including Ken Chenault and Alexa von Tobel, with investors such as GGV Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Flybridge Capital, and BoxGroup. In October 2022, Chief became a unicorn after a $140 million Series B led by CapitalG, with participation from General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Inspired Capital, Primary Ventures, and Flybridge; Laela Sturdy joined the board.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed Chief to a fully virtual model in 2020, which helped the organization grow as more women joined online platforms. By 2023, Chief had five physical clubhouses and a strong digital platform that members use for networking, mentoring, peer groups, and speaker events featuring prominent leaders.

In March 2023, Fortune highlighted some growing pains as Chief scaled quickly and shifted to a digital-first model. Chief acknowledged these challenges and said it had addressed many operational issues, while also facing questions about diversity representation and engagement in social and political issues.

That year, Chief also launched Chief Enterprise, offering gender-diversity coaching and related services to companies. The mission remains to “drive more women to the top—and keep them there” by providing a vetted network, mentoring, guided peer groups with executive coaches, and talks with leading women such as Amal Clooney, Indra Nooyi, Michelle Obama, Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, and Mindy Kaling.