Vice President, Membership & Events

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 economic and social 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.

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.

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.

• 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…