There are 36 Fortune 500 CEOs in Chicago and its environs. Thirty-four of them are men.
For highly successful women, it can be lonely at the top.
But that could be changing soon. Chief, a New York City-based counterpoint to the unincorporated by very real Old Boys Club, will open a clubhouse in the Windy City this summer. The brainchild of Carolyn Childers, senior vice president of Handy, and Lindsay Kaplan, vice president for communications at Caspar, Chief is dedicated to women but in a statement said it “proudly welcome[s] applicants of every gender identity.”
With more than 2,000 members in New York City, the private club for women at the VP level or above has a waiting list of 7,000, many outside the Big Apple. In addition to the Chicago Club, Chief is also opening a facility in Los Angeles this spring.
“For generations, we had to do it alone—one woman at a table of men,” the company says on its website. “But times change. We don’t need a seat at that table. We’re building our own.”
The new 7,000-square-foot facility in the West Loop will include conference rooms, meeting rooms, event rooms, a lounge, and a bar. Membership is private, and so is the membership list. Its founders say they want Chief to be a place where women can relax and seek guidance and support from other women without having to wear their corporate armor.
They also hope it will be a place where women can nurture long-standing relationships with one another, which can be difficult when they work mainly with men and interact with other high-level women once or twice a year at industry or organization events, if that.
“Our members are rising leaders making decisions today and influencing change tomorrow,” according to Chief’s website. Members include executives from such top-tier companies as Amazon, Hulu, HBO, American Express, Cartier, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson.
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