Corporate and CEO Programs
CFR’s Corporate and CEO Programs link the private sector with world‑class geopolitical insight that helps executives anticipate risk and shape strategy.
You can’t be a business leader today, run a global company, and not understand geopolitics. It affects everything you do.
Navigating Global Risk Starts With Understanding It
Geopolitical instability, shifting U.S. policy, technological competition, and economic fragmentation are no longer background conditions for global companies—they are shaping core business decisions. From conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to evolving trade and industrial policy and renewed risk in markets such as Iran and Venezuela, today’s global environment is redefining how companies assess risk, deploy capital, and plan for the future.
Why Business Leaders Turn to CFR
The Council on Foreign Relations helps senior business leaders understand these forces—and what they mean for strategy, operations, long‑term competitiveness, and their future workforce. For more than a century, CFR has provided nonpartisan, rigorous analysis of the United States’ role in the world and has been a forum for sharing perspectives on the way forward.
Since 1953, companies have actively participated in CFR conversations and thought leadership. Today, its Corporate and CEO Program serves as a strategic resource for companies navigating global uncertainty. CFR brings together business leaders, policymakers, and leading experts in settings designed for candid, off‑the‑record exchange.
Corporate members gain early insight into geopolitical and geoeconomic trends, deeper context on policy debates, and a forum to test assumptions alongside peers confronting similar challenges.
How CFR Supports Executive Decision-Making
Our Experts
CFR fellows—recognized leaders on geopolitics, geoeconomics, technology, climate, and security—provide tailored briefings for CEOs, boards, executive committees, and internal leadership teams. These sessions help companies connect global developments directly to business strategy, risk management, and operational planning.
Rebecca Patterson
Senior Fellow
Steven A. Cook
Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies
Edward Fishman
Senior Fellow and Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics
Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker
Senior Fellow
Rush Doshi
C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and Director of the China Strategy Initiative
Inu Manak
Senior Fellow for International Trade
CEO and C‑Suite Dialogues
Corporate members participate in small, curated discussions—including private dinners, salons, and roundtables—that bring together senior executives, policymakers, and CFR leadership. These forums are intentionally limited in size to enable frank, peer‑level conversation.
Flagship Convenings
The annual Corporate Conference and CEO Summit convene senior leaders to examine the geopolitical and economic forces reshaping the business environment—from trade and industrial policy to technological competition and global financial risk. This year’s Corporate Conference took place on May 7 and 8, covering the last 250 years of American capitalism and the future of the U.S.-led economic order, the most pressing geopolitical and security issues facing the United States, and the future of business-integrated artificial intelligence.
Insight at the Core of Business and Geopolitics
Drawing on CFR experts and resources across regions and issues, the Business and Geopolitics hub equips business leaders with the geopolitical insight needed to navigate a world where foreign policy decisions increasingly shape market conditions, corporate strategy, and global risk.
Corporate Membership Levels
Corporate Membership OverviewCorporate membership at CFR is evolving to meet a more complex world—bringing leaders together in new and deeper ways, through more tailored programming and engagement across industries, the country, and the world.
Investing in the Next Generation of Leadership
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Emerging Leaders in Business and Geopolitics Program is a talent accelerator designed to equip rising executives with the strategic perspective needed to take on broader leadership responsibilities. Through participation in CFR’s Stephen M. Kellen Term Member Program, participants engage in a two-year experience focused on geopolitical risk, global markets, and technology disruption. Corporate members leverage this offering as a targeted investment in high-potential talent, building global fluency across their leadership pipeline while strengthening retention and succession planning.
Gold-level companies may designate up to ten participants and Silver-level companies up to six, providing a meaningful way to recognize future leaders and immerse them in the policy, economic, and cross-sector dynamics shaping the business environment.
Begin the Conversation
The global environment is evolving faster, and with greater consequence, than at any point in recent decades. CFR corporate membership offers senior executives a trusted forum to think ahead, test assumptions, and engage peers navigating the same uncertainties.
Contact
Corporate and CEO Programs
To learn more about Corporate Membership, contact the Corporate and CEO Programs team:
212.434.9684