20-first in the Press 2010 - Building Gender Balanced Business

In Chile to participate in the “Mujer & Negocios: talent, liderazgo y mercado” seminar organized by Comunidad Mujer, 20-first’s CEO discusses the economic power of women and the country’s specific situation. María José Gutiérrez’s article presents parts of the Q&A touching on topics like the salary disparities between the genders and the downside of extended maternity leave rather than parental leave.

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Norbert Rief’s article provides excerpts of an interview with 20-first’s CEO Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. She answers questions concerning quotas enforcing gender diversity, the incentive to consider gender balance a business issue and the behavioral distinctions between men and women.
Asked about quotas, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox criticized the fact that many of them were gender specific and suggested that “eventually quotas will protect the men.”

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Carly Chynoweth’s article And the award goes to… presents different perspectives on the virtues of women’s networks both inside and outside of companies. She exposes Avivah Wittenberg-Cox’s argumentation concerning the negative impact of internal networks and the benefits of external ones.
20-first’s CEO is cited as describing networks within a company as counterproductive: “Women love it, men love it, but it doesn’t work. It marginalises women within companies and reinforces the idea that women need help.”

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Commenting on how the male power structure in companies was largely unchanged, Marcia Reynolds, Author, Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction quoted 20-first CEO Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, speaking at the Economist’s Ideas Economy: Human Potential conference as saying “Whoever thought of calling 60 percent of your talent and 80 percent of your customers a diversity? They are your future.”

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Reporting on the The Economist’s Human Potential conference held on the 15th &16th of September in New York, Austin Carr started a thread on Fast Company ‘ Does hiring and promoting women make your company diverse?’ and quoted a point made by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO 20-first: “Should we even consider women when thinking about diversity in the workplace?”

Ideas Economy: Human Potential drew together top experts from business, government, academia, and other disciplines to discuss and debate how to boost productivity by harnessing the potential of individuals and societies.

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The Chartered Management Institute’s Professional Manager magazine carried an article on the book launch event of Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO 20-first latest book How Women Mean Business hosted by Nomura. The event included a panel debate with Tarun Jotwani, CEO Nomura, James Smith, Chairman Shell UK, and John Donovan, Vice President , Cisco UK and Ireland. The debate was moderated by Financial Times Journalist Stefan Stern. ( Watch video)

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO 20-first spoke about her new book book ‘How Women Mean Business’ to the KUHF.fm business news audience. Wittenberg-Cox explained how the book offers a road map for improving gender balance by quoting extensively from it.
Listen to the full interview here

Cleo Thompson writes about the “How Women Mean Business’ London book launch event

In her blog in the glasshammer, Cleo Thompson, founder of the Gender Blog, writes about the London book launch event of Avivah Wittenberg’s new book How Women Mean Business. Cleo Thompson follows the authors’ journey from the WHY to the HOW, “Wittenberg-Cox has pioneered the concept of gender balance and bilingual leadership and her basic principles include reminding us that women are not a minority, but an equal and able part of both the workforce and society; stopping the practice of asking women to solve gender based issues; and recognising women as equal and different”

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Stefan Stern in his article on What Men Need to Learn About Leadership writes about 20-first CEO Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, “Ms Wittenberg-Cox does not hammer her readers with arguments over justice or equality. She is more interested in the practical realities of a world in which, for example, 60 per cent of university graduates are female and, for the first time, the majority of people in the US workforce are women too”. Outlining the need for ‘bilingual organisations’ Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is quoted as saying “Companies do not need more women’s networks or more ‘fix-the- women’ policies. We should be saying ‘no’ to assertiveness training. Women are not a minority or something for the diversity manager to worry about.”
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Carolyn Parrs,Host and Creator of Women of Green, shares 20-first CEO Avivah Wittenberg-Cox’s recent blog How BP lost its women before it lost its brand, on The WOG Blog.
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Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks to Bonnie Marcus, the host of Head Over Heels radio show, about her new book How Women Mean Business and why it’s not the women who need changing, but the companies.
Listen to the full radio interview here

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox makes headlines in Le Soir, Belgium’s largest francophone newspaper when she calls on companies to get rid of gender asbestos. Read here for full article

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox,CEO of 20-first, author of the upcoming book HOW Women Mean Business was profiled in an article in El Mercurio. The article quotes extensively from the new book which is designed to provide senior managers with a clear understanding of how to approach the challenging process of shifting an old corporate culture into the modern age.
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, cited as an expert on gender equity with over 20 years of experience, was quoted as saying, “Most companies were created by and for a century dominated mainly by men working and women who stayed at home. That model is now completely obsolete, but the structures, cultures and mentalities have not adapted so quickly to changes in society. Companies must focus on this theme to fit the new reality and many have not yet done”

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Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO 0f 20-first, was quoted in an article on Women and the Knowledge-Work Trend, as saying “Are women the managers Drucker was waiting for?”. In January 2010, the Labor Dept. announced, females outnumbered males on U.S. payrolls. In 1995, Peter Drucker explained why.
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