Frances Frei: Why it's not a bad sign that companies aren't talking about Black Lives Matter anymore

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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Greta Thunberg meets with Angela Merkel, AOC shares her beauty routine, and Frances Frei knows how to turn around corporate America. Have a productive Monday.

– Next steps. If you have a problematic corporate culture on your hands, call Frances Frei.

The Harvard academic is best known for being brought in to turn around Uber’s company culture in 2017; now, with businesses nationwide eager to examine where they have fallen short in supporting their Black employees, her expertise is more in demand than ever.

I spoke to Frei earlier this month about what companies should be doing right now to follow through on the bold promises many made in June. I wanted to know if it was worrying to her that companies’ contributions to public discussion about Black Lives Matter have drastically quieted in the past two months.

Frei says that being quiet can actually be a good sign. One of the first steps for any organization reckoning with its culture is “standing, walking, and talking,” she says—a stage that includes the kind of societal conversations corporations engaged in earlier this year. The next step, says Frei, is to take action internally. “I don’t mind if they’re not talking as long as they’re busy at work improving things,” she said in answer to my question. “If less talking means they’ve graduated to this third phase of justice, I consider it progress.”

But, of course, there’s a caveat: Progress should be visible very soon. If it’s not, that’s when public pressure comes back into play. “Meaningful change,” she says, “happens quickly.”

Read the rest of our interview—and Frei’s guidance for how companies should support working mothers (hint: stop having so many meetings!)—here.

Also, a bit of housekeeping: We’re in the final days of accepting nominations to Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women in Business list. Use this form to apply or submit candidate by the end of the week.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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