The U.S. is at a turning point, and the world is watching. The murder of George Floyd — preceded by the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many, many others — has sparked an outpouring of grief and activism that’s catalyzed protests in all 50 states and around the world. For Black people, the injustice we feel around the murder of another unarmed Black person is not new — but the scale of recognition of systemic racism and the allyship we are feeling from others is.

For diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practitioners like me, the influx of interest we’re seeing from organizations that want to both support their Black employees and upskill their workforce around racism, bias, and inclusivity is unprecedented. Plus, all of this is happening in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which is also having an outsized impact on Black people in domains ranging from health to employment. Just a few weeks ago the constraints of the pandemic were even threatening corporate DEI efforts.

Many organizations have made their donations. Sent their tweets. Hosted their town halls. DEI budgets that had disappeared are now back. What should come next? Companies can do a few virtual trainings and default back to the status quo — or they can recognize that the racial bias driving the injustices they and the majority of Americans now care about also plays out within their own companies. Organizations that choose the latter then must answer an important question: How will they restructure their workplaces to truly advance equity and inclusion for their Black employees?

It is tempting to think that the broad recognition of inequity and resulting activism is enough to bring change to organizations. But meaningful and long-lasting action to create an anti-racist workplace requires strategic vision and intent.

Organizations that are truly committed to racial equity — not only in the world around them, but also within their own workforces — should do three things.

[Here’s the first.]

Invest in (the Right) Employee Education

The U.S. has a complicated history with how we talk about slavery and how it contributes to disparate outcomes for Black people (including wealth accumulation, access to quality health care and education, and equity in policing) and the persistent homogeneity at the highest levels of corporate organizations. One consequence of avoiding this painful, yet foundational, part of American history is drastically different perceptions — particularly between white and Black Americans — about how much progress we have made toward racial equality. And yet, study after study shows that educating white Americans about history and about Black Americans’ current experiences increases awareness of bias and support for anti-racist policies.

But far too often, the responsibility of doing this education falls to Black employees (who are, to be clear, far too exhausted from navigating the events of the last several weeks, in addition to the lifelong impacts from systemic inequities, to answer all your well-meaning questions). White employees and others can take individual responsibility for their own education by tapping into the wealth of resources others have compiled. Organizations must also take seriously their role in educating employees about the realities and inequities of our society, increasing awareness and offering strategies for the individual accountability and structural changes needed to support inclusive workplaces. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to what kind of training or education will work best. It depends on the goals of the company and where it is on its journey to racial equity.

Here are some areas of focus companies can consider. First, training on allyship can motivate employees to be more effective at calling attention to bias, which can lead to a more inclusive environment for their Black colleagues. Next, leaders ask me every day how they can authentically discuss these issues with their teams and how they can meaningfully show their support for Black Lives Matter internally and externally: For those executives, it’s important to discuss how to advance justice as a leader. Finally, while the protests have drawn attention to the systemic racism and injustices Black people face in the U.S., we still have a lot of work to do to shed light on the insidious biases that undermine the everyday experiences of Black Americans in the workplace. Unconscious bias training is another tool to have in the organizational toolbox. Designed effectively, unconscious bias training can equip people with skills for reducing the role of bias in their everyday decisions and interactions.

There are many other topics and approaches to this kind of education, and organizations will need to find the right partners and experts to develop the content and delivery method that will yield progress.