Podcasts Business Women Rocking Wall Street - A podcast dedicated to women in financial services 044: Moving from Gender Diversity to Gender Balance

044: Moving from Gender Diversity to Gender Balance

Published: Feb. 10, 2016, 6:54 p.m.

Episode 44: Moving from Gender Diversity to Gender Balance
Guest: Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

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Welcome back and thank you for joining me again for this week\u2019s episode of Women Rocking Wall Street. I have really been looking forward to this chat, ever since I read my guest\u2019s content in the Harvard Business Review.

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Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is a prolific speaker and writer. As CEO of\xa020-first, Avivah works with top management teams from international companies to identify opportunities to create more balance within their organization, primarily around gender and culture. Having active, strategic debates with the executive team is a constant occurrence for Avivah. This helps the teams understand what the gender topic is and how best to lead a more \u201cgender bilingual\u201d organization.

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If gender balance isn\u2019t established within an organization from the start, it\u2019s not usually going to happen naturally. It takes three things to create balance: leadership, culture shift, and systems that are supportive and adaptive to the 21st\xa0century. Changing the balance within an organization is fairly simple. Most companies become frustrated with their lack of success when trying to create gender balance. Therefore, the executive team is open to suggestions and advice on where and how to move forward \u2013 which is where 20-first comes in.

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Avivah recommends we stop using the phrase \u2018gender diversity\u2019 because it frames the females as one diversity among many. By using the term \u2018gender balance\u2019, we\u2019re helping create a movement that has been occurring throughout the 21st\xa0century. It's now gaining some strong momentum which will positively impact businesses and relationships.

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To learn more about Avivah and to find resources on how to promote gender balance, visit 20-first.com.

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