"I'm from an area of Chicago where Black communities don't always have an opportunity to see a future, to imagine ourselves as chief technology officers," says Richard Thomas, Oracle senior marketing cloud consultant. But Thomas has a vision: to give back to the community through our Alliance of Black Leaders for Excellence (ABLE), an Oracle employee resource group. ABLE works with organizations, such as Black Girls Code, to help Black youth see themselves in a future where coding, programming, and engineering are the keys to economic and professional advancement.

ABLE is an example of not just dreaming, but doing-a commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Change requires sustained effort: Companies such as Oracle are working to evolve workplace culture-from the policymakers at the top to the employees on the front lines.