Fifth Third: Renewing Its Commitment to Be Part of the Solution

Fifth Third Bank Chairman, President & CEO Greg Carmichael shared a message with the employees of Fifth Third Bank.
 

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.

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, comprised 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.