Company Overview
About Chief
Chief is a New York-based membership organization designed to connect and support senior women leaders at the VP, SVP, EVP, and C-suite level. Founded in 2019 by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan, the network provides members access to private peer advisory groups, one-on-one executive coaching, proprietary leadership programming, and physical clubhouses in major U.S. cities.
Business Model & Competitive Advantage
The company raised approximately $140M in venture capital, including a $100M Series B in 2022 that valued it at over $1B — making it one of the few women-focused professional networks to achieve unicorn status. At its peak, Chief had a waiting list of 60,000 prospective members and $5,800+ annual membership fees.
Competitive Landscape 2025–2026
In 2023, Chief underwent a significant restructuring after rapid post-pandemic growth outpaced sustainable economics — laying off 14% of staff in April 2023, closing its UK operations in March 2023, and making further cuts in October 2023. In February 2025, co-founders Childers and Kaplan stepped down as CEO and Chief Brand Officer, with Alison Moore taking over as CEO. The company restructured its membership tiers in 2024 to offer three distinct packages open to all qualifying members, moving away from title-based pricing. As of early 2026, Chief operates five clubhouses (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C.) and continues to operate as the leading exclusive network for senior women in corporate leadership.
Key Differentiators
Strong Challenger
Chief is an established challenger with significant market presence and competitive offerings in HR & People Tech.
Frequently Asked Questions
Estimated Visibility Trend (Beta)
Simulated 8-week rolling score
Based on estimated brand signals. Historical tracking coming soon.
Similar Brands
Fountain
Fountain is a workforce management platform purpose-built for frontline workers — the 2.7 billion people globally who work in hourly, shift-based, or high-volume roles in industries like logistics, fo
Workday
Workday is a Pleasanton, California-based enterprise cloud software company — listed on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: WDAY) — providing human capital management (HCM), financial management, and planning solutions f
ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is the cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform from ADP (Automatic Data Processing, NASDAQ: ADP) designed for mid-sized businesses with 50-1,000 employees — providing int
SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors is SAP SE's (NYSE: SAP) cloud human capital management (HCM) platform — acquired by SAP in 2012 for $3.4 billion — providing Core HR (employee records, organizational structure, pay
Oracle HCM Cloud
Oracle HCM Cloud is Oracle Corporation's (NYSE: ORCL) cloud human capital management suite — part of Oracle Cloud Applications, Oracle's $7+ billion annual cloud application business — providing globa
UKG
UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) is a Weston, Florida-based human capital management (HCM) and workforce management company formed from the 2020 merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos — providing payroll,
Compare Chief with Competitors
Side-by-side AI visibility scores, platform breakdown, and market position.
Claim This Profile
Are you from Chief? Claim your profile to see full AI mention excerpts, get weekly visibility change alerts, and optimize how AI systems describe your brand.
Claim Chief Profile →Track AI Visibility in Real Time
Monitor how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude mention Chief vs competitors. Get alerts when AI recommendations shift.
Start Free Tracking →