By Andreas Pettersson, Founder, Leaders ADAPT
Thirty years old, 3,000 members, 20 countries, forums of 12 to 15, and not one price anywhere on the site. Renaissance Executive Forums, now called REF, is one of the older CEO forum organisations in the world, and one of the least documented. The old address, executiveforums.com, now sends you to ref.global, so a search for REF Global and a search for the old name land in the same place.
I run the Leaders ADAPT CEO Mastermind myself, virtual, at most 14 members, no revenue gate, and I am a competitor to REF for some CEOs and no competitor at all for most of its markets. This is the REF entry in the CEO Peer Group Index. Every value is sourced. Every gap is marked.
Quick answer: Renaissance Executive Forums, now REF, runs monthly in person forums of 12 to 15 non competing CEOs, owners and C-level executives, each led by a certified Forum Leader, in 20 countries across Latin America, the United States and Europe. It publishes no fees, no gates and no contract terms. The only member quotes on record come from an unverified review site.
What Renaissance Executive Forums is, in 12 fields
Renaissance Executive Forums is a private peer advisory platform, now branded REF, that forms monthly confidential forums of 12 to 15 non competing business leaders led by a certified Forum Leader. Everything in the table was read from ref.global and the two third party sources in October 2026.
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private peer advisory platform: monthly confidential forums of 12 to 15 non competing business leaders, each led by a certified Forum Leader | About us |
| Cost and year one | Joining fee, dues, year one total and increases: not published. An independent listing confirms REF publishes no fees | Forum, Asora listing |
| Gates | CEOs, business owners and C-level executives, high caliber, from non competing industries, by invitation. Revenue, age and employee minimums: not published | Home, Forum, The REF experience |
| Group size | 12 to 15 per forum. The home page says a curated group of 12 | About us, Home |
| Time commitment | A monthly forum, a morning of structured discussion: Case, Expert Insight, Round Table. Annual extras: Escape, a one day retreat, Offsite, an immersive trip, and All Member Meetings. One on ones: not published | About us, Forum |
| Facilitator model | A certified REF Forum Leader, recruited as a business leader with 15+ years of leadership, "No initial investment", "Monetize your business acumen", one to two days a month. Employee or contractor: not published | Lead a forum, About us |
| Contract and cancellation | Not published | Forum |
| Format and geography | In person, monthly mornings. 20 countries across Latin America, the USA and Europe. Regions listed: Canada, South America, US, Central America, Mexico, Asia, Europe. Site in English, Spanish and Portuguese | About us, Lead a forum |
| Industry mix | Cross industry, non competing. Member logos shown include Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola, IBM and Cisco | Home |
| What members say | "The facilitators create a safe and supportive environment where everyone's opinions are respected and valued." and "I have been a member of several business forums, but Renaissance Executive Forums stands out from the rest." Both member opinion, from an unverified review site | Trustburn |
| Founded and size | "Founded 30 years ago in the USA", no exact year. Over 3,000 members in 2025 across 20 countries. Co-founded by Jim Fontanella, based in La Jolla | About us, San Diego Business Journal |
| Best for and not for | For CEOs and C-level leaders, especially in Latin America, Spain or Portugal, who want a professionally led monthly morning forum of 12 to 15 non competing peers. Not for leaders who need published pricing or a virtual first option | Read of all sources above |
What REF does well
The morning format is disciplined. Case, Expert Insight, Round Table, every month, in person. That is a tighter agenda than most executive forums publish, and it is a half day rather than the full day that Vistage asks for. A CEO can hold a monthly morning for years, and a full day is harder to defend to a leadership team.
The non compete rule is explicit. A room of 12 to 15 leaders from different industries is a wide enough spread that the case on the table is usually someone else's blind spot, not a shared one.
The geography is unusual. Twenty countries with a deliberate weight on Latin America and a site in Spanish and Portuguese is a footprint Vistage, EO and YPO do not match in the same way. For a CEO in Mexico City, Bogota or Lisbon who wants an in person peer advisory forum with a Forum Leader rather than a volunteer moderator, REF may be the only established option. The executive peer groups page compares the formats in each market.
What REF does not publish
The price. No joining fee, no dues, no year one total, no increase schedule, and the Asora listing confirms it. If you searched for the Renaissance Executive Forums cost, the answer is that it is a conversation with a local Forum Leader, not a number.
The gates. By invitation, high caliber, non competing. No revenue line, no headcount, no age limit, so you cannot know from the outside whether you qualify.
The contract. No term, no cancellation policy, no notice period on the site.
The one on one. Vistage publishes a monthly Chair session as part of its model. REF's site says nothing about private time with the Forum Leader.
The reviews. The two quotes on the record come from a review site that does not verify who wrote them, and REF publishes no named member testimonials on the pages that could be read. For a 30 year old organisation with more than 3,000 members, that record is close to empty.
Who REF is not for
A CEO who needs the price before the call. Every CEO forum that publishes its fees, Vistage and EO among them, is easier to put in front of a board or a spouse than one that does not.
A CEO who wants a virtual room. REF is in person, monthly, by region. If you travel three weeks in four, the model does not bend. A virtual CEO peer group is a different structure, not a lesser one.
A CEO who wants peers at the same stage. A forum of 12 to 15 non competing leaders drawn from a region, with logos like Nestle and Cisco on the home page, means the person beside you may run a division of a multinational while you own a $6 million company. A forum group in EO is sorted by the founder's seat. REF sorts by non compete and region.
A CEO who wants the chair to have done the job this decade. That is the structural point, and it deserves its own section.
The structural gap: who sits in the chair
I became CEO of a Canon company at 37, one of the youngest CEOs Canon had at the time. I ran operations across Europe, Japan and the United States, which meant Tokyo in the morning, Europe at midday and the US in the afternoon, most days, for years. I know what the chair feels like at 7am when the number is wrong and the person who owns it is nine time zones away.
A Forum Leader with 15 years of leadership has sat in a chair like that. The question is when, and how many days a month they sit in one now. REF's recruiting page is honest: no initial investment, one to two days a month, monetise your business acumen. That is a part time seat held by someone whose operating years are, by design, behind them.
An independent chair does not signal weak facilitation. It signals a part time seat. The facilitator may be excellent at holding the room. What the model cannot give you is an operator in the chair, someone who had the same payroll problem in the same quarter you are having it, and who is still exposed to the consequences of being wrong.
The Vistage chair page walks through the same structure at Vistage, where the economics of the chair role are published in more detail.
This is not an accusation. It is the model, stated as structure with the source. A room led by a former operator one morning a month is a good room. It is a different room from one run by a current operator who hired more than 80 people personally and will tell you which of them were mistakes.
The Leaders ADAPT room, on the same 12 fields
The Index grades my room by the same fields. It is not the better room in every case. It is a different structure, and most of the difference is in the chair.
| Field | Leaders ADAPT CEO Mastermind | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A virtual CEO mastermind, operator led, for founders and CEOs | CEO Mastermind |
| Cost and year one | Not on any blog page. Discussed on a fit call | This page |
| Gates | No revenue gate. The test is whether you have built something before and will take a direct room | This page |
| Group size | At most 14 members | This page |
| Time commitment | A monthly virtual session plus weekly office hours | This page |
| Facilitator model | An operator in the chair: I scaled an AI company to more than 150 people and exited it to Canon, and I run every session | This page |
| Contract and cancellation | No multi year contract | This page |
| Format and geography | Virtual. Members chosen by fit, not region | This page |
| Industry mix | Home care, flooring, title services, aviation services, wellness, logistics, lending | This page |
| What members say | This site never names a member, so no quote appears here | This page |
| Founded and size | Leaders ADAPT, founded by Andreas Pettersson. One room of at most 14 | This page |
| Best for and not for | For owners of $1M to $20M+ companies who do not fit revenue gated groups and want a direct room. Not for a division head of a multinational, not for anyone who needs an in person forum in their city, and not for anyone who wants a polite room | This page |
A forum with the operator still in the chair
The Leaders ADAPT CEO Mastermind takes the part of REF that works, a small confidential room with a fixed monthly structure, and changes who holds it. Virtual, at most 14 members, no revenue gate, and the chair is mine: an operator who scaled a company to 150+ people and exited to Canon.
Each monthly session runs a 1 to 10 check in tracked over time, a company hot seat against a ten slide template, feedback on five fixed prompts including what the presenter is not seeing, and one committed action with an owner and a date. Weekly office hours in between. I run the room hot, after years in masterminds that stayed too comfortable to change anything.
It is not for a leader who wants a regional in person morning.
Renaissance Executive Forums FAQ
What is Renaissance Executive Forums?
Renaissance Executive Forums is a private peer advisory organisation, now branded REF, that forms monthly confidential forums of 12 to 15 non competing business leaders. Each forum is led by a certified Forum Leader and meets in person for a morning built around a member case, an expert insight segment and a round table. It operates in 20 countries.
Is Renaissance Executive Forums the same as REF?
Yes. The organisation now trades as REF and describes itself as formerly Renaissance Executive Forums. The old domain, executiveforums.com, redirects to ref.global, and the about page carries both names. Older reviews, listings and articles still use the long name, so a search for either brand lands on the same organisation and the same forum model.
How much does Renaissance Executive Forums cost?
REF does not publish a joining fee, annual dues, a year one total or a schedule of increases on its site, and an independent listing confirms that it publishes no fees. Pricing is given in conversation with a local Forum Leader. Anyone comparing it against Vistage, EO or YPO has to request the figure directly before any comparison is possible.
Who leads a REF forum?
A certified REF Forum Leader. REF recruits Forum Leaders as business leaders with 15 or more years of leadership experience, describes the role as requiring no initial investment and taking one to two days a month, and frames it as a way to monetise business acumen. Whether Forum Leaders are employees or independent contractors is not published.
Where does REF operate?
REF lists 20 countries across Latin America, the United States and Europe, with regions named as Canada, South America, the US, Central America, Mexico, Asia and Europe. The website is published in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Forums meet in person, monthly. The organisation says it was founded 30 years ago in the USA and is based in La Jolla.
What do Renaissance Executive Forums reviews say?
The only member quotes found come from an unverified review site, where reviewers praise the facilitators for creating a safe and supportive environment and say the forum stands out from other business forums they have belonged to. Those are member opinions on a site that does not verify reviewers. No independent, verified member reviews were found for this profile.
Ask who sits in the chair, then decide
If you are in a REF market and you want a professionally led in person morning with 12 to 15 non competing peers, book the conversation. Ask for the price in writing, ask what the Forum Leader ran and when, ask whether there is one on one time, and ask what the exit terms are. None of it is on the site. Renaissance Executive Forums has lasted 30 years, and in Latin America it may be the best established option you have.
If the thing you need is someone in the chair who is still running a company, the model cannot give you that, however good the Forum Leader is.
What did the person who will lead your forum run, and when did they last sit where you sit?
Compare it with a room where the operator is still in the chair.
