Avivah Wittenberg Cox

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is the CEO and a managing partner of 20-first. Based in Paris, she is a consultant, coach, trainer and author, working with progressive companies interested in the other half of the talent pool and the other half of the market – the female half. She helps companies develop more inclusive leadership styles, promote more gender-balanced management teams and review processes and policies to better respond to women – both as employees and consumers. For the past 15 years, she has listened to men and women on issues of career aspirations, leadership and performance.

She is co-author of “Women, Careers and Competitive Advantage“ and is the Founder and Honorary President of the European Professional Women’s Network one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing such networks.

She is a certified executive coach and spent five years as a Visiting Coach at INSEAD. She has spoken on career management and women’s leadership issues across Europe and has had articles and interviews published in publications such as the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times. She began her career as a computer programmer for L’Oréal and then spent several years with HR consultants Towers, Perrin in Brussels and Geneva. Canadian, French and Swiss, Avivah has a BA from the University of Toronto, an MBA from INSEAD and completed the Women’s Leadership Program at Harvard.