Vice President, Membership & Events

Perm/contract: Permanent
Status: Full-time
Reports to: Executive Vice President

The Commercial Club of Chicago and Civic Committee Overview

The Commercial Club of Chicago works to shape Chicago’s future to make our region a better place for everyone to live, work, and do business. Since 1877 we have helped shape Chicago into one of the world’s greatest cities. The Commercial Club of Chicago is a membership organization of senior leaders in the region. Our members span the business, education, civic, cultural, and philanthropic sectors – unified by excitement for the future of Chicago. We believe cooperation and an open exchange of ideas are fundamental to success. Today, the Commercial Club continues to address social and economic issues of importance to the Chicago region.

In 1983, the Civic Committee was formed as an entity within the Commercial Club to identify key issues facing the State of Illinois and the greater Chicago region and providing leadership, high-quality research, long-term policy recommendations and programmatic actions for the benefit of the city and region. The Civic Committee is composed of the leaders of the Chicago region’s leading private sector employers and works with public officials and other civic organizations on transformational initiatives to promote our region’s social and economic well‑being. The Civic Committee generally serves as the Commercial Club’s lead on policy and initiatives in public safety, business diversity, transportation and infrastructure, and state and local finance.

We also work alongside, and partially fund, the organizations established by us to tackle key issues head‑on:

• Civic Consulting Alliance: Civic Consulting Alliance has an effective model for addressing systemic problems and achieving lasting change. We leverage the power of public‑private collaboration through a unique approach to management consulting, to channel Chicago’s proud history of civic engagement.
• Kids First Chicago: Kids First Chicago’s mission is to dramatically improve education for Chicago’s children by ensuring high‑quality public schools are accessible to all families. We believe a healthy education environment where kids, schools, and communities thrive is the key to a world‑class city. We believe that those closest to our students – families, community members, and educators – are best equipped to design policies and systems that will improve equity and lead to stronger outcomes for our students, communities, and city.
• P33: Our ambition is to transform Chicago into a tier one technology and innovation hub and promote inclusive economic growth.

This is a full‑time position with benefits, reporting to the Executive Vice President of the Civic Committee and Commercial Club of Chicago. Initial employment will be on an introductory basis, with detailed evaluations and feedback for new employees at the 30-, 60-, and 90‑day marks.

Position Summary

The Vice President, Membership & Events, is a senior executive responsible for providing strategic leadership for the Civic Committee and Commercial Club of Chicago’s membership community, with particular emphasis on serving as the driving force behind the Commercial Club’s engagement, programming, and events. Membership & Events is central to the organization’s mission and impact: members are invited to join and engage as partners in the organization’s work, contributing expertise, leadership, and collaboration to address shared civic and policy priorities.

As a member of the senior leadership team, the Vice President has the opportunity to bring the long‑term vision for membership and events to life for both the Civic Committee and Commercial Club – shaping how it is translated into strategy, experiences, and results This leader will have meaningful latitude to define the path forward and leave a distinctive imprint on how members connect, engage, and contribute to the organizations’ work and ensuring that the member experience is meaningful, engaging, and aligned with organizational values and strategy. This role oversees the full membership lifecycle— from identification, cultivation, invitation and onboarding through engagement and long‑term stewardship—while partnering closely with internal teams to deliver a cohesive, intentional, and high‑touch member experience.

The Vice President is charged with overseeing implementation of the recommendations of the Membership Experience Working Group (MEWG), translating that roadmap into operating practice across both organizations.

This role is focused on relationship‑building, stewardship, and strengthening a community of engaged members who actively participate in and support the organization’s work.

This role also provides oversight of membership systems, Salesforce integrity, reporting, forecasting, events budgeting and vendor partnerships, translating performance data into actionable insights. The Vice President builds, leads and develops membership and events staff while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and member‑centered results.

Essential Functions

• Establishes and stewards an organization‑wide vision for membership and events aligned with mission, strategy, and the recommendations of the Membership Experience Working Group (MEWG).
• Serves as the primary point person driving Commercial Club engagement, programming, and activities, working under the direction of the EVP.
• Defines principles for identification, cultivation, invitation, onboarding, engagement, and stewardship focused on partnership and impact.
• Leads implementation of the MEWG roadmap and evolves the membership model to align with MEWG and Board of Directors recommendations.
• Staffs the Membership Committee and the Program Committee, in partnership with relevant senior leaders and committee chairs.
• Partners with the IT Services team to improve dashboards and reporting tools.
• Oversees all activities related to planning, implementation, and evaluation of membership initiatives and events to maximize results and impact.
• Works with the Director of Communications on strategic member communications.
• Fosters and maintains strong relationships with Commercial Club and Civic Committee members and other key stakeholders with whom the organization works.

Membership Events

• Sets the overall events strategy as a core driver of member engagement, relationship‑building, and organizational impact.
• Defines the purpose, audience, and desired outcomes for major membership events in partnership with senior leadership.
• Oversees a cohesive annual calendar of events aligned to membership priorities, Board engagement, and Civic Committee strategy and initiatives.
• Provides event support to the organization’s policy teams as needed, ensuring policy‑related convenings and events are executed to the same standard as membership events.
• Ensures events reflect organizational values, strategy, brand, and standards of excellence.
• Provides executive oversight of event budgets, vendors, and risk management, delegating operational execution to the Director, Membership & Events.

Primary Responsibilities

Senior‑Level Member Engagement & Stewardship

• Develops and grows relationships with both member and non‑member business and civic leaders.
• Serves as a senior relationship steward for select members.
• Keeps Membership programs fresh and exciting—provides new ideas and improves on current programs to both attract and retain members.Represents the organization with professionalism and discretion.
• Ensures a consistent, high‑quality member experience from first contact through long‑term engagement.
• Creates and oversees systems that foster a welcoming, inclusive, and relationship‑driven culture at every membership touchpoint.
• Utilizes member feedback, data, and insights to continuously improve service delivery and membership engagement strategies.
• Stays abreast of external membership retention and recruitment best practices to drive internal strategies and results.
• Collaborates closely with colleagues across the organization to develop and facilitate the creation and delivery of membership value and drive awareness of membership benefits and impact.

Thoughtful Membership Growth (Invitation‑Based)

• Leads a selective, values‑aligned approach to identifying and inviting prospective member including the next generation of regional leaders.
• Exercises sound judgment and discretion in all aspects of member identification, invitation, engagement, and stewardship, recognizing the reputational implications for the organization and its leadership.
• Collaborates with leadership and board members on invitation and membership engagement and retention strategies.
• Ensures growth strengthens membership diversity and cohesion.

Cross‑Functional Leadership & Partnership

• Provides strategic oversight and direction to the Director, Membership & Events, who leads day‑to‑day execution and operations, and clarifies how other membership and events staff roles relate to and support that work.
• Directly manages and develops the Director, Membership & Events and other membership/events team members, setting clear expectations for how responsibilities are divided across the team.
• Collaborates with Development and Communications while maintaining functional clarity.
• Contributes membership and event insights to leadership and board discussions.
• Sets clear goals, performance metrics, and professional development plans for team members.

Organizational Leadership & Oversight

• Serves on the senior leadership team.
• Partners with the senior leadership team to align membership growth and event delivery with overall organization strategy, budget, and community impact goals.
• Monitors engagement trends and best practices.
• Mentors membership staff leaders.
• Fosters a culture of community, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Position Requirements

Education and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of membership or stakeholder leadership experience.
• Proven experience directly managing and developing staff, including setting goals, conducting performance reviews, and building team capability.
• Proven ability to steward senior‑level relationships with business, civic, public sector and community leaders.
• Strong cross‑functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and communication skills.
• Commitment to inclusive and values‑driven leadership.
• Experience leading or overseeing CRM systems; Salesforce experience strongly preferred.

Required Organizational Competencies

• Mission‑Driven: Deep commitment to the organization’s civic and economic development mission.
• Communication: Communicates clearly, concisely, and with appropriate executive presence across diverse audiences, including members, Board leadership, senior staff, and external stakeholders; able to translate organizational strategy into compelling membership narrative.
• Relationship cultivation & management: Builds, sustains, and strategically leverages high‑trust relationships with senior leaders, members, and partners to advance organizational strategic priorities and collective impact.
• Integrity and Ethics: Demonstrates the highest level of professional integrity and ethical standards.
• Teamwork: Works effectively with diverse stakeholders, including board members, staff, and external partners.
• Data‑driven problem solving: Uses quantitative and qualitative data to assess membership engagement, identify trends, diagnose issues, and inform strategic decisions; translates insights into actionable improvements in membership experience and outcomes.

Required Functional Competencies

• Stakeholder Engagement: Sets and advances membership strategy and implementation plans
• CRM Management: Oversees CRM (Salesforce) strategy along with key staff collaborators
• Event Planning: Sets and oversees event vision and execution
• Project Management: Directs and oversees key membership and events projects
• Member Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention: Sets goals and executes on member recruitment, engagement and retention goals
• Vendor Management: Sets strategy for event vendor relationships
• Budgeting: Oversees event financial strategy
• People Management: Directly manages, coaches, and develops membership and events staff.

The position is in Chicago. Regular travel within the city is required. We believe that the path to achieving our missions requires our organizations and teams to regularly collaborate, work in teams, maintain collegiality, and provide a space for thought‑partnership, all of which are best accomplished in person. However, we also recognize that appropriate flexibility is beneficial to the effectiveness of our employees and our organizations. With that in mind, we offer opportunities for employees to work in a combination of in‑person and remote work (“hybrid” option).

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Club and its affiliated organizations are equal opportunity employers and do not unlawfully discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of any legally protected characteristic, whether actual or perceived, including, including, but not limited to, an individual’s race, religion, color, creed, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or other legally protected status. This policy applies to all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, compensation, promotion, discipline, and termination.

Compensation

Commensurate with experience, starting at $200,000 annually. The Club offers a competitive benefits package, subject to specific policy eligibility guidelines.