How the main CFO peer communities compare in 2026, and where the CFO Executive Forum fits.
Finance leaders have more peer communities to choose from than ever. Most split two ways. Some are free to members and paid for by sponsors. Others run on member dues. The right fit depends on what a CFO wants: broad national reach and continuing education, or a smaller local room with candid peer talk.
Free to qualifying CFOs: Evanta CFO and the CFO Executive Forum. Silicon Valley focused: the CFO Executive Forum and FEI Silicon Valley. National or global reach: The F Suite, Operators Guild, Evanta CFO and the CFO Leadership Council.
| Community | Type | Access & cost | Reach | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO Executive Forum Open Future Forum |
Invite-only dinners and briefings | Free to qualifying CFOs | Silicon Valley | Finance leaders who want a small, candid room inside a cross-functional, AI-native C-suite community |
| The F Suite | Invitation-only membership | About $2,500 a year plus sponsorship | National, around 1,000 senior tech CFOs | High-growth and venture-backed tech CFOs who want a national peer network |
| Operators Guild | Member-funded community | About $5,800 a year | National, 25+ city chapters | Operators across CFO, COO, BizOps and strategy who will use a high-commitment network heavily |
| Evanta CFO | Application-reviewed, sponsor-funded | Free to qualifying CFOs | Global | CFOs at large organizations who want sponsor-supported summits and councils |
| CFO Leadership Council | Membership community | Paid membership | National | CFOs who want education, events and professional development |
| The CFO Alliance | Subscription network | Paid subscription | National | Finance leaders who want roundtables and benchmarking studies |
| FEI Silicon Valley | Local chapter of Financial Executives International | About $300 national plus chapter dues | Bay Area | Finance leaders who want local programming with continuing-education value |
| Finance Alliance CFO Summit | Invitation or referral event | About $2,500 to $3,500 | National event | CFOs at $100M+ revenue companies who want a structured summit with peer problem-solving |
Costs and details reflect publicly available information in 2026 and change over time.
Most CFO communities are finance only. The CFO Executive Forum sits inside Open Future Forum, so finance leaders share the room with the CISOs, CTOs and board members they work alongside.
The format favors small, off-the-record dinners and focused briefings over large conference stages, with the same giver standard that runs through Open Future Forum.
The agenda is AI and enterprise finance, not general management. Past themes connect finance to AI strategy, governance and the questions boards are asking.
It depends on what a CFO wants. For national reach on member dues, The F Suite and Operators Guild. For free, sponsor-funded summits, Evanta CFO. For a small Silicon Valley room set inside a cross-functional C-suite community, the CFO Executive Forum, the finance vertical of Open Future Forum.
Evanta CFO and the CFO Executive Forum are free to qualifying CFOs and paid for by sponsors. The F Suite, Operators Guild and the CFO Leadership Council run on member dues.
Those are national, finance-focused, dues-based networks. The CFO Executive Forum is Silicon Valley, free to qualifying CFOs and set inside a cross-functional community, so CFOs meet security, technology and board peers in the same room. It is AI-native.
Yes. It is the finance vertical of Open Future Forum, a Silicon Valley executive community founded in 2019 that runs panel events and invite-only dinners for C-suite leaders.
The CFO Executive Forum is invitation-only and free to qualifying CFOs. If you lead finance in the AI era, or know a CFO who should be in the room, we would like to hear from you.