Throughout my career, I’ve felt a deep sense of responsibility to develop teams and cultures that focus on integrity and embrace diversity and inclusion. This commitment is rooted in a core belief that opportunity and advancement should be available to everyone, and that representation at senior levels of companies today needs to undergo dramatic transformation. Chief is changing the fabric of leadership today by empowering women and accelerating and elevating the trajectories of their careers.

A January 2019 study published by the National Academy of Sciences shows that women with a large, female centric inner circle have expected job placement levels that are 2.5x greater than those who don’t have such networks. Chief is a private network designed specifically for senior female leaders — VP-level through CEO — to strengthen their journey into the C-suite and keep them there.

For organizations committed to gender parity, Chief can play an important role in helping these companies attract, cultivate, and retain female executive talent through an influential network that provides important mentorship, development, and executive support across industries. And, for the millions of VP/C-level female executives in the U.S., Chief offers a place for these rising women to convene, gain support that they can rely on, sharpen their skills, and develop deep connections to achieve positions of power.

I am excited to work with Carolyn and Lindsay — founders who are challenging the status quo and impacting the future of business. Ultimately, founders who take a truly integrated approach to business — a terrific business model coupled with a long term perspective, commitment to building teams and boards that represent a diversity of thought and experiences, and a deliberate approach to cultivating those leaders — are founders that GC and I, personally, want to support.

As a member of the Chief board of directors, I look forward to sharing my experience building one of the world’s leading membership brands at American Express, and to working with Carolyn and Lindsay as they continue to build a premiere membership and community experience for Chief’s members. I believe Chief has the potential to become an international brand name as they realize their mission of driving women forward into positions of power and providing the necessary support to keep them there. We are proud to be a part of this vision.

— Ken Chenault & Team GC