PARIS and NEW YORK, January 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- 'Gender Balance Key to Corporate and Economic Growth' www.WOMEN-omics.com

Women are business's secret weapon, and the world's highest performing companies -- and smartest men -- are realizing and acting upon the opportunity, says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, publisher and founder of the new Website, WOMEN-omics.com, which is launching today.

WOMEN-omics (www.WOMEN-omics.com), the first Website making the business case for gender balance and the economic power of women, provides exclusive global reporting on women's growing economic impact on companies and countries, and aggregates the best information, ideas, and insight in the field, updated daily. A one-stop Web portal, the site is designed for corporate leaders, top executives, policymakers, journalists, researchers, business schools, and women in the workplace.

MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE

This is an economic issue, not a diversity issue, says Ms. Wittenberg-Cox, a leading gender consultant to corporations and co-author of WHY WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS (Wiley, 2008; published as WOMENOMICS in its French edition), a groundbreaking book that provides a step-by-step guide to how companies can gain competitive advantage by better understanding and responding to women's growing influence as consumers, employees, and leaders.

WOMEN-omics shifts the debate from 'What's the matter with women that they aren't reaching leadership positions?' to 'What's the matter with companies that haven't optimized the other half of the talent pool and marketplace -- the female half?'

Putting gender balance in the diversity bucket to redress 'glass-ceiling' issues, rather than seeing it as an incredibly powerful sales and strategic proposition, misses the opportunity, says Ms. Wittenberg-Cox. In fact, recent research reports from McKinsey and Catalyst have shown that having women in corporate leadership positions is correlated to stronger financial returns.

ONE-STOP GLOBAL PORTAL

With contributions from some of the most important global thinkers and writers on gender balance, both male and female, WOMEN-omics explains the business case for moving women into positions of leadership (the Why), provides best practices and toolkits for achieving this (the How), and highlights the companies and CEOs that are doing this the best (the Who). The site brings together news updates, case studies, rankings (e.g., best business schools for gender balance), exclusive CEO profiles, research reports, statistics, and other resources.

Moreover, WOMEN-omics' global focus enables cross-country and cross-regional comparisons, says Ms. Wittenberg-Cox. North America and the UK have long dominated the discussion on gender, but in fact the U.S. trails behind many other countries when it comes to gender equality.

Morice Mendoza, an award-winning editor of business and professional magazines and Websites, is the editor of WOMEN-omics.com. The site features exclusive interviews with global CEOs and corporate leaders who get it, such as:

-- Paul Bulcke, Nestle (http://tinyurl.com/bulcke); -- Michel Landel, Sodexo (http://tinyurl.com/landel); -- John Griffith-Jones, KPMG (Europe) (http://tinyurl.com/jgriffith-jones); and -- Laurent Blanchard, Cisco (France) (http://tinyurl.com/lblanchard).

Other articles at launch time include:

-- The Evolution of Marketing to Women (http://tinyurl.com/52fnvj); -- GE Women's Network (http://tinyurl.com/7lfgtg); -- Gender Balance in the Fortune 100 (http://tinyurl.com/8wbfqc); -- The WOMEN-omics Special Report on the Credit Crunch (http://tinyurl.com/a8zoa2); -- India's IT Women (http://tinyurl.com/9ehw9n); and -- The Rise of the Nerdette (http://tinyurl.com/9sj6xa).

WOMEN-omics is as much a site for men as it is for women, says Ms. Wittenberg-Cox. Addressing the gender issue may indeed be one of the most important decisions a company can make in today's economy. And while women may hold the keys to the untapped economic opportunity, men still control the locks.

For more information about WOMEN-omics, to use its articles, or if you would like to speak with Ms. Wittenberg-Cox, please contact Davia Temin or Suzanne Oaks of Temin and Company (http://www.teminandco.com) at +1-212-588-8788 or news@teminandco.com.

About WOMEN-omics

WOMEN-omics (www.WOMEN-omics.com) is the first Website making the business case for gender balance and the economic power of women. Providing exclusive global reporting, updated daily, on women's growing economic impact on companies and countries, WOMEN-omics aggregates the best information, ideas, and insight in the field. The site is designed for corporate leaders, top executives, policymakers, journalists, researchers, business schools, and women in the workplace.

About Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

An expert in corporate gender bilingualism (getting companies to speak the language of both men and women), Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is CEO of 20-first, one of Europe's leading gender consultancies. Based in Paris, she works with progressive companies to develop more inclusive leadership styles, promote more gender-balanced management teams, and review processes and policies to better respond to women as employees and consumers.

Ms. Wittenberg-Cox is co-author of the bestselling Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution (http://tinyurl.com/9glo5t) (Wiley, 2008) with Alison Maitland. She is also the Founder and Honorary President of the European Professional Women's Network, a certified executive coach, and spent five years as a Visiting Coach at INSEAD. She has spoken on leadership and growth opportunities across Europe and has published articles, reviews, and interviews in publications ranging from the Harvard Business Review and the International Herald Tribune to the Financial Times in the UK, Le Temps in Geneva, Le Monde and ELLE in France, and the National in Abu Dhabi.

Ms. Wittenberg-Cox is Canadian, French, and Swiss. She has a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an MBA from INSEAD, and has completed the Women's Leadership Program at Harvard. ELLE Magazine recently recognized her as one of the Top 40 Women Leading Change.

Davia Temin, or Suzanne Oaks, both of Temin and Company, +1-212-588-8788, news@teminandco.com, for WOMEN-omics