The Team - Building Gender Balanced Business

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is CEO of the consultancy 20-first, one of the world’s leading gender consultancies.

20-first works with progressive companies interested in diversifying their leadership teams and optimising both halves of the talent pool and both halves of the market – the female and male halves. 20-first works with CEOs, executive committees and managers to build gender ‘bilingual’ organisations. The firm’s renowned Building Gender Balanced Businesses programmes and suite of online tools help companies harness the talent and market opportunities of the 21st century.

Avivah is author of:

• HOW Women Mean Business, A Step by Step Guide to Profiting from Gender Balanced Business, Wiley 2010. More at: www.HowWomenMeanBusiness.com (coming soon)

• and co-author of the best-selling WHY Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution, Wiley 2008.

She has spoken on leadership, marketing and talent management issues across the globe and lectures at both INSEAD and HEC business schools. She has had articles, reviews and interviews published in a variety of publications including Harvard Business Review, the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times.

She is the Founder and Honorary President of the European Professional Women’s Network (www.EuropeanPWN.net). Canadian, French and Swiss, she has been recognised by ELLE Magazine as one of the TOP 40 Women Leading Change. Her first book was awarded the prestigious MANPOWER Best Book of the Year prize in 2009 and was selected as a business book of the year by Conference Board Review in 2010.

See www.AvivahWittenbergCox.com or www.WhyWomenMeanBusiness.com

For more information or to book or to book Avivah Wittenberg-Cox as a speaker, see: Speaking

Jennifer Flock is COO of 20-first. She oversees all the business development and operational management of the firm. She has over 15 years international management and consulting experience. Previously, she advised multinational companies on their strategic challenges while a strategy consultant at Deloitte Consulting. She subsequently was the Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development of a major international travel management company. Jennifer holds an MBA from the Wharton School and MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Having spent her career working in an international environment, Jennifer holds dual French-American citizenship and is raising her multicultural family in Paris.

Jacqueline Lapasin manages the 20-first‘s finance and administration team and keeps our ever-busy offices running smoothly. She is the first point of contact for all client and press inquiries. She’s also a key support for our marketing and communications team. As a bi-national UK/French citizen, Jacqueline has over 20 years experience in similar roles in other international companies. She very much enjoys bridging UK/French life with her bi-lingual and bi-cultural family.

Romain is our internet generation representative. He works on our websites, including the upcoming launch of an ambitious new global project. His years of gaming, Facebook and MSN help keep the older member of the team attuned to what the 21st century will really look like. He is, like the rest of the team, a true internationalist having already lived and worked in many different countries (Belgium, Finland and more recently China as a member of the marketing team of Sperian Protection while continuing his studies in Spain, France, and in the US). Also a photographer, his skills in design will help enhance the many visual aids used by 20-first.

Currently working towards his undergraduate degree at Pomona College, Adam is the youngest and newest addition to 20-first. Born in Brussels, raised in Paris and studying near Los Angeles, he fits right into our international and multicultural team. He updates the website with gender-related news from the political and corporate worlds and organizes the newsletter. Adam has also taken part in 20-first’s latest initiative, a push towards e-learning.