Coqual

What Coqual does

Coqual is a private, New York-headquartered think tank and advisory organization operating as Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) legally, branded as Coqual since its 2004 founding by labor economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett. It runs a cross-industry membership community — the Coqual Task Force — of over 100 global enterprise members (predominantly Fortune 500) plus a research and experimentation unit (the Global Lab), an advisory practice (Strategy + Activation), a speaker bureau, and a portfolio of licensed leadership frameworks including the Coqual Strategic Navigator (a four-lens framework: Case/Context/Culture/Capacity), The Clarity Loop, The Traction Test, Three Horizons Planning, Activation Sprints, and the Inclusion Health Check assessment. Revenue is generated through annual Task Force memberships (recurring subscription), research sponsorship, customized advisory engagements (Rapid Labs and full-day workshops), tool licensing, and paid speaker bookings. Its core 'technology' is proprietary research IP — multinational mixed-methods studies with thousands of executive respondents — packaged into deployable frameworks and assessment tools, distributed primarily through direct enterprise sales supported by earned media coverage in Bloomberg, Fortune, HBR, and The Hill.

The organization is led by CEO Jennie Glazer (formerly of Citi and Morgan Stanley) with Carolyn Buck Luce as co-founder and Chair of the Board, Sylvia Ann Hewlett as Founder and Chair Emeritus, and a senior team that includes Co-Executive Directors of the Global Lab (Emily Gawlak, Emilia Yu), Executive Vice President Sandra Rice, and a bench of Global Lab fellows covering the US (Jennifer Brown, Elana Weinstein, Isis Fabian), UK/Europe (Birgit Neu), and Asia (Radhika Darbari). Geographic research coverage spans the US, UK, France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, with members from financial services, healthcare, technology, media, consulting, and luxury retail. Coqual's positioning has shifted in 2025-2026 toward 'navigating uncertainty' and AI-era leadership via the Convergent Leader model, anchoring its relevance against macro headwinds including DEI retrenchment, AI adoption, and leadership burnout.

Name

Coqual

Legal name

Coqual/Center for Talent Innovation

Website

https://coqual.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coqual is a New York-based think tank and advisory firm serving 100+ global enterprise members through research publications, the Task Force membership community, Strategy + Activation advisory engagements, and licensed leadership frameworks such as the Coqual Navigator and Convergent Leader suite.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting and Research Advisory

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Collaboration & Joint Labs (International Partnerships) (EDAIABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Credentialing, Academic Credit, Assessment & Transcript Services (EDAIAFAO)

Keywords

• Workforce research advisory
• Leadership development consulting
• Inclusion strategy services
• Executive membership programs
• Talent management research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Task Force Membership: Annual membership in Coqual's Task Force provides access to research reports, webinars, roundtables, the annual Summit, member-only website with resources, action sheets, toolkits, and networking opportunities. This is the primary recurring revenue stream.
2. Research Sponsorship: Companies sponsor Coqual research reports, gaining influence over research topics, brand visibility through case studies, and employee participation in Insights In-Depth virtual research sessions or focus groups. Sponsors can showcase initiatives via detailed case studies.
3. Advisory Services - Strategy Workshops: Coqual delivers rapid labs (90-minute sessions), full-day strategy workshops, and ongoing advisory engagements to help organizations align executive teams, rethink talent strategy, or reset inclusion goals. These are customized, co-created engagements.
4. Tool Licensing: The Coqual Navigator tools are available for licensing, providing organizations with editable templates, facilitation guides, training support, and community learning access. Targets talent leads, HR, consultants, and internal coaches.
5. Speaker Bookings: Coqual thought leaders are available for speaking engagements at organizations and events. Task Force members receive discounted presentation fees; non-members pay standard fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Coqual is a research-driven think tank and advisory organization that produces multinational research on leadership, inclusion, and the future of work, and translates that research into proprietary frameworks, advisory engagements, and licensed tools for enterprises. Its commercial core is the Task Force annual membership serving 100+ global companies, complemented by sponsored research, strategy workshops, the Strategic Navigator and Convergent Leader frameworks, executive speaker bookings, and assessment tools such as the Inclusion Health Check.

Product overview

Coqual offers a research-driven advisory and think tank platform centered around its core Strategic Navigator Framework, which helps organizations navigate complexity, rebuild trust, and embed inclusion into leadership, talent, and culture strategy. The portfolio includes the Global Lab for research and cross-sector experimentation, the Coqual Task Force membership program (100+ global companies), and Strategy + Activation advisory services. Supporting tools include The Clarity Loop, Three Horizons Planning, The Traction Test, Activation Sprints, and the Inclusion Health Check assessment. Member resources include the Coqual Playbook and Toolkit for the Convergent Leader model. The company also offers Leadership & Learning Labs workshops, the Coqual Luminary Exchange community, and Insights In-Depth virtual research sessions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Coqual Navigator: Research-backed framework for navigating organizational complexity, aligning teams, rebuilding trust, and leading with intention.
• Coqual Summit
• Global Lab
• Task Force
• Activation Sprints
• Insights In-Depth

Products and services

• Strategy + Activation Advisory
• Coqual Navigator (Strategic Navigator Framework)
• Coqual Task Force Membership
• Leadership & Learning Labs
• The Convergent Leader Research Report
• Inclusion Health Check for Groups, Teams & Communities
• The Clarity Loop
• Speaker Bureau (Book a Speaker)
• Research Sponsorship Program
• The Traction Test

Quantifiable outcome

• Convergent Leaders are 2.7 times as likely to report a boost in team productivity, 2.4 times as likely to report an increase in market share, and twice as likely to report increased revenue compared to non-Convergent Leaders
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Conference Board: Membership-based business research organization delivering economic indicators, peer learning, and executive conferences to global corporations. Directly comparable to Coqual's Task Force model: annual corporate membership for senior business leaders, with research, events, and convening at the core.
• Catalyst: Non-profit research organization focused on workplace inclusion, gender equity, and leadership development. Catalyst is directly comparable to Coqual — both publish multinational research on inclusion and the talent pipeline, and Catalyst is Coqual's partner on the Convergent Leader report.
• Great Place to Work: Research and certification organization known for 'Best Workplaces' rankings and workplace culture diagnostics. Comparable to Coqual on the workforce-research and inclusion-measurement dimensions, with a global corporate member base paying for benchmarking and certification.
• Center for Creative Leadership: Non-profit research and leadership development organization offering leadership assessment, executive education, and applied research. Highly comparable to Coqual in combining rigorous research with proprietary assessment tools and development programs for senior leaders.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): Global leadership assessment and development firm offering behavioral simulations, leadership analytics, and consulting. DDI directly overlaps Coqual's Navigator/Clarity Loop/Traction Test portfolios with research-backed, diagnostic-heavy leadership tools targeting Fortune 500 clients.

Broad incumbents

• Gartner: Global research and advisory firm serving enterprise executives across IT, HR, and business functions. Gartner overlaps Coqual's research-led advisory and Task Force-style subscription content, but serves a much broader agenda and operates at far greater scale and budget.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with deep talent management, executive search, and leadership advisory practices. Comparable to Coqual's talent and leadership strategy work but operating at significantly larger scale with proprietary assessment IP and broader service lines.
• McKinsey & Company: Global management consulting firm with a major research and publishing arm (McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey Insights). Comparable to Coqual on thought-leadership cadence and C-suite advisory in the talent/leadership space, though McKinsey's headcount, resources, and breadth are vastly larger.

Others

• Brookings Institution: Major US-based public-policy research think tank producing data-driven, peer-reviewed work by economists and fellows. Thematically relevant as a comparable think-tank operating model: research-IP-led, non-profit, reliant on donor and corporate support, and dependent on individual scholar brands.
• World Economic Forum: International organization that convenes global leaders across business, government, and civil society. Thematically comparable to Coqual's Global Lab and Task Force model of cross-sector convening, though WEF operates across all global issues rather than specifically workplace inclusion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coqual

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles31 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coqual