About

The CIO Initiative®
About

A community built for the people who lead technology.

The CIO Initiative® has been convening the most accomplished technology executives for nearly a decade, creating the conditions for candid dialogue, peer learning, and genuine connection.

Our Mission

We exist to advance the practice of technology leadership.

The CIO Initiative® was founded on a simple premise: the most valuable learning for any senior technology executive comes from other senior technology executives. Not from vendors. Not from analysts. From peers who are navigating the same pressures, the same board dynamics, the same talent challenges, and who are willing to speak plainly about what they’ve experienced.

We create the conditions for that conversation. Our summits are designed to remove the noise, the sales pitches, the performance, and replace it with structured peer dialogue, including panel discussions, at the highest level of the profession.

The CIO Initiative® is part of The Executive Initiative® family of communities, which also includes The CISO Initiative℠ and Parliament™, our invitation-only C-level peer cohort.

What we offer
Annual Summits Curated two-day gatherings for senior IT and technology leaders, held at distinctive venues across the country.
Peer Dialogue Facilitated sessions designed for honest, experience-based conversation, not presentations or vendor demonstrations.
Expert Speakers Nationally recognized practitioners and thought leaders who contribute to, not dominate, the conversation.
Parliament™ Community For those who want year-round engagement, Parliament™ offers an invitation-only peer cohort. Parliament participants receive one complimentary Executive Initiative summit per year, their choice of any Executive Initiative event, plus priority access to additional summits.
Our Principles

What guides everything we do

01
Peer First
Every design decision starts with the executive in the room, not the sponsor, not the stage, not the agenda.
02
Candor Over Comfort
We create formats that make honesty easy. The conversations that matter most are the ones no one else is having.
03
Quality Over Scale
We keep our events intentionally small. Every seat matters. Every participant was chosen for a reason.
04
Long-Term Relationships
We measure success not by headcount or impressions, but by whether the people in the room come back, and bring others.
What Attendees Say
“CIO Initiative Summits provide a unique opportunity to network with other IT executives and learn from their experiences. The Summits are small enough to promote direct personal interaction with other IT leaders and yet broad enough to encompass a wide variety of views and opinions. Unlike many other meetings, I’ve obtained information and advice at past Summits that is substantive, actionable and directly applicable to the challenges facing my IT team.”
Mark Settle
Author and CIO
“The CIO Summit provides an intimate platform to share successes and failures as well as current initiatives with a peer group that covered many industries outside of the Silicon Valley bubble. The format was a great way for the attendees to both present and participate in the discussions around each of the poignant areas of focus. CXO attendees were honest and open, we forged friendships outside of our common role related challenges.”
Aaron Gette
CIO, EoS Fitness
“Unlike a typical conference, this was an intimate gathering of technology executives whose primary objective was to advance the role of the CIO as a business leader. Everyone in attendance was there to share insights with one another in what could be best described as a servant leadership think-tank.”
John Doherty
CIO, Columbia Forest Products
“Out of all the opportunities to plug in and discuss IT industry trends, I have made it a priority to attend this event for past few years. The Executive Initiative has done a great job gathering CIOs, authors, and industry leaders to share knowledge and insights. Logistics have always been first class and served as a great opportunity to informally network and build meaningful relationships.”
Steve Holt
Former CIO, Materion Corporation
“I find the CIO Initiative Summit to be a great, engaging forum for being able to interact with true experts and leaders in the industry and both learn and share ideas, experiences and improvement opportunities. The focused, more intimate setting and gathering enables tremendous interaction and synergies that is hard to get from other forums.”
Walter Yosafat
Global CIO
“The network is absolutely invaluable. When you hear other people’s stories, they’re solving a lot of the same problems, or they’ve already solved them.”
Sherry Jordan
CIO, Hudson Automotive
“I was very impressed with the quality of the dialogue, and how candid it was. People come with working ideas, and honestly, we learn just as much from the ideas that didn’t work.”
Santhosh Keshavan
CIO, Voya Financial
“This is my seventh summit. The value is the interaction with peers, comparing the challenges I face with how they’re approaching them. A little time out of the office with people I trust, where I can let my hair down, is a significant value.”
Jesse Hillman
CIO, DC Water
“The thing I really liked about this event is the networking opportunity. I met a lot of new people, and the last panel gave me something I can take right back to my organization.”
Parag Pujari
CIO, Jurgensen Companies
“My favorite part is the intimate nature of it, being able to network with peers and learn from them.”
Ken Knapton
CIO, Win Brands
“The topics we covered were meaty, much more than what you’d see at a normal convention or conference. I took copious notes and left with a lot of action items. Really a great conference.”
Brad Enneking
CIO, HPLS
“It was very different than what I was expecting. A much more intimate and authentic conference. An opportunity like this to join with other CIOs is both cathartic and reassuring, and a great chance to share challenges and, importantly, solutions.”
Steven Carter
Former CIO
Our Team

The people behind the experience

A small, dedicated team focused entirely on the quality of the community we serve.

Mark S. Blanke
Mark S. Blanke
Chairman & Founder
Mark founded The Executive Initiative® and has spent nearly a decade building peer communities for the most senior technology executives.
Stefanie Krievins
Stefanie Krievins
Director of Strategy & Partnerships
Stef leads strategy and partnerships, drawing on more than a decade of untangling complex organizational challenges to help every guest get the most from our Summits and gatherings.
Katie Dahl
Event Coordinator & Summit Ambassador
Katie manages the end-to-end summit experience, from venue coordination to on-site logistics, ensuring every detail is right.
Austin Blanke
AB
Austin Blanke
Director of Technology & AI Development
Austin leads technology strategy and AI development for The Executive Initiative®, and delivers the executive leadership reflection experience available to Parliament™ participants.
Parliament™ by The Executive Initiative®

The year-round community behind the summits.

Parliament™ is the invitation-only C-level peer cohort at the heart of The Executive Initiative®. Participants attend one Executive Initiative summit per year complimentary, including two hotel nights, and participate in ongoing peer cohort gatherings throughout the year.

Part of The Executive Initiative® Family
The CIO Initiative® is presented by The Executive Initiative®
The Executive Initiative® is the parent brand encompassing Parliament™, The CIO Initiative®, and The CISO Initiative℠, a family of communities dedicated to the most senior technology and security executives.
Visit The Executive Initiative®