Criteria

The CEO Council is a Peer Forum
(not a networking group)

Every participant — member or non-member at a Rhode Island CEO Summit, CEO Exchange, or CEO Briefing —meets the same criteria.

We review every individual on their own merits. Because titles vary by industry, organization type, and geography, we evaluate each person based on actual leadership responsibilities, experience, and size of workforce—not title alone.

Who Is In the Room

Peers
Chief Executives Only. No substitutes. Every chief executive is seated with peers of similar workforce size, organizational complexity, and scope of decisions.

Job Title
CEO, Chief Executive Officer, President, Executive Director, Managing Director, Managing Partner, Owner, or the top executive, with P&L responsibility, of a division (of an out-of-state business) with a local workforce.

Company Size
All participants must lead a workforce and typically fit into one of these categories:
1) Small B2B or manufacturing company: 10 to 29 employees;
2) Small-to-Midmarket: 30 to 500 employees;
3) Large: 500 to 30,000+ employees;
4) Nonprofit with 10 or more Rhode Island employees;
5) Division of an out-of-state corporation with 10 or more Rhode Island employees

  * We occasionally make an exception for owners of early-stage companies with fewer than ten employees, where prior leadership experience includes leading a larger organization.

NOTE:  We may request additional information or documentation to assess both current and prior experience.

If you have questions about your membership application, criteria, or want to provide additional context about your leadership experience, please reach out to us.