Living Your Best Encore: Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

What was your previous job/career, and how many years did you dedicate to it? Would you be open to sharing your age? 

I’m 63 years old, and I’ve been an entrepreneur running my own companies most of my life. I’ve had several careers: IT programmer, writer, communications consultant, and, for more than 20 years, a global expert on gender-balanced business. 

What sparked your current journey—whether you’re still working, enjoying retirement, or embracing a “second act?  

I'm in my 6th or 7th act! About five years ago, during the pandemic, I was locked in a small barn in Somerset and began reading, researching, and writing about longevity, aging societies, new demographics, and the transformational impact of a world that would be generationally balanced for the first time in human existence. I layered this onto my work on gender balance, and now work on 'gender and generational balance,' all things longevity, and work to get this new demographic age onto the strategic agenda of companies, business schools and individual mindsets and career planning.  

I also write for FORBES, have a weekly newsletter called Elderberries and run a podcast called 4-Quarter Lives. Oh yes, and I teach in a few business school programmes at Oxford Said, INSEAD, and Católica Lisbon, where I co-founded and co-direct their Longevity Leadership Programme. And coach midlife professionals on preparing to 'Thrive to 100' (the title of one of my recent books). 

What was the defining moment that led you here? 

I read a book titled "The 100-Year-Life" by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott. I realized that, after the rise of women, this was the next significant shift: the rise of the older (which I was becoming). For my 60th birthday in 2022, I gifted myself a year at Harvard as a Fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative programme. There, I learned everything I could about this new world, launched the podcast and wrote a book. 

What is one powerful lesson you learned later in life that you wish you could have whispered to your younger self? 

It gets better. Much, much better. 

Please complete this sentence:  The thing I value most about where I am in life right now is… 

The freedom to grow and give. The fun of becoming the family matriarch. And the joy of late love. 

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is a renowned expert on leadership, longevity, and gender balance. A regular contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review, she hosts the podcast 4-Quarter Lives and the Substack Elderberries. She teaches at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, INSEAD, and Católica Lisbon, where she co-directs the Longevity Leadership Programme. A three-time TEDx speaker and Thinkers50 Hall of Fame inductee, Avivah advises global CEOs through her firm, 20-first, and serves on multiple advisory boards, including NICA and the Global Peter Drucker Forum. Her books and graphic guides bridge strategy and practice on the future of work and aging. For additional information, please visit https://www.avivahwittenbergcox.com/ 

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