Diversity Statement
Diversity at Fifth Third:
Fifth Third Bank believes that inclusion and diversity in the workplace are essential to living our Core Values: serving our customers, delivering financial performance, and being recognized as a leader in building an engaging workplace, a strong supplier base, and vibrant communities.
Fifth Third is committed to talent diversity at every level of the Company—from our Board of Directors, to our Enterprise Leadership Committee, to the more than 19,000 employees throughout our markets. Further, we are committed to transparency. We demonstrate that commitment by publishing our inclusion and diversity practices and demographic data on an annual basis in our ESG Report.
We are proud of our efforts and recognize there still is work to do to ensure our workforce representation reflects the communities we serve. Fifth Third is committed to ensuring that every employee feels valued, respected and included.
Click image to download Fifth Third's Inclusion Toolkit
Be an Ally
The healing and changes that are needed in our society are going to take a while. We are committed to taking ownership as an organization to stand firm against racism and inequality. We are part of the solution, and we are taking both near and longer-term actions in our journey to change.
Our direction and messages are evolving, which will ultimately change the outcome for our business and the people who we serve. As we move ahead, we are committed to becoming better and doing better as we continue on the journey of building a racially just, equitable and inclusive community. Our first step toward this is educating ourselves and others. In the Fifth Third Inclusion Toolkit, you’ll find ways you can engage, from reading books and articles, to watching movies, to taking action. We invite you to download this complimentary resource.
Renewing Our Commitment to Be Part of the Solution
A message shared with Fifth Third Bank employees on June 5, 2020.
On May 30, 2020, we shared initial thoughts about our responsibility to society, as individuals and as an organization, to stand firm against racism and inequality. Today, we want to expand on those thoughts and to again express Fifth Third’s commitment to be part of the solution and emphasize the importance of diversity in the workplace.
This commitment is multifaceted. It comes to life in our Core Values, our business practices, our customer interactions, our community relationships and most important, in our commitment to our employees. It is more than words. It is action.
It's also a journey, and it is important to acknowledge that we sometimes have stumbled along this path. We have worked diligently over the past few years to address our shortcomings. We have made some strides, but there is still work to be done.
It is time to double-down on our efforts and act in ways that challenge the status quo, even if that means facing uncomfortable truths about ourselves and our society. We reached a tipping point recently in a long history of racial injustice impacting Black Americans in this country. It has galvanized people across America and beyond, and it represents a calling to all of us to be better, to do better. We will not waste this moment.
We are assembling a new Diversity Leadership Council, composed of senior leaders from across the company, charged with ensuring equality and inclusion in our workplace, particularly for Black employees. We will be launching an enterprise-wide initiative, supported by the Enterprise Program Management Office, to ensure accountability and to achieve measurable and sustainable progress.
Finally, we are creating additional resources to help guide empathetic, supportive conversations about the inequality and bias that continue to plague our nation. Watch for information about these resources in the coming weeks.
It bears repeating that we will not waste this moment. We will use it to strengthen our commitment to build a racially just and equitable community.
Thank you for being partners on this critical journey.
Greg D. Carmichael
Chairman and CEO
Fifth Third Bancorp
Stephanie A. Smith
Senior Vice President
Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer
Our Commitment in Action
As we work towards creating equitable outcomes for all, we have launched a $2.8 billion commitment that will provide $2.2 billion in lending, $500 million in investments, $60 million in financial accessibility and $40 million in philanthropy as part of the Executive Diversity Leadership Council’s (EDLC) Accelerating Racial Equality, Equity and Inclusion initiative.
The Bank will engage in comprehensive neighborhood revitalization to help improve outcomes and quality of life indicators for communities of color that have experienced decades of disinvestment. This includes a $100 million neighborhood fund focused on improving the social and environmental determinants of neighborhoods throughout its 11-state footprint.
The three-year pledge focuses on three constituents: employees, customers and communities. Each vertical has a specific emphasis on accelerating the Bank’s progress toward an equitable environment for all.
We are also working toward achieving six bold goals by 2025 to support inclusion and diversity throughout our entire workforce and for our diverse suppliers:
- Complete unconscious bias awareness training for 100% of employees. (This was achieved in 2020.)
- Ensure the diversity of the Bank’s workforce reflects the markets it serves.
- Grow leadership positions at each management level for women and persons of color.
- Create a work environment where there is no disparity in race or gender.
- Advance the Bank as a leader in inclusion and diversity.
- Achieve and sustain a 10% supplier diversity spend to increase supply chain inclusion.
As the Bank continues to make meaningful strides in advancing inclusion and diversity in the banking and financial services industry and in its communities, it is equally committed to maintaining and extending that position to make a difference for its employees and customers. To learn more about our financial commitment and six bold goals, please click here.