Even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, recent headlines have been rife with stories about racial tension, incidents of violence and civil unrest—as some corporate board directors have coined it, “a crisis within a crisis.” Comparable in some ways to the #MeToo movement, pressure is mounting for corporate boards to tackle racial injustice in the workplace, promote a truly inclusive environment, and rewrite company policies to make it clear to internal and external stakeholders that there is no room for racial discrimination or harassment. Leaders know that if companies do not strengthen their policies in this changing environment, they risk not only violating discrimination laws, but also the reputational damage that comes from alienating potential customers, investors, and the public.

Conventional efforts to address racial discrimination and harassment are of course not new, but there is mounting evidence that they have not been enough. Increasingly, there are calls for a new framework, new tools, and a better way to engage employees to address the problem. Experienced board directors know that searching for the prototypical “smoking gun” to uncover racism in the workplace often falls short, as “treating people unequally because of their race … often manifests in more subtle ways, such as the assignments workers are given, the pay or benefits they receive, and the ways their performance is judged or rewarded.” Increased research and awareness around the consequences of implicit bias have made this clear.

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