Stephanie A. Smith
Senior Vice President and Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Fifth Third Bancorp
Stephanie Smith serves as senior vice president and chief inclusion & diversity officer for Fifth Third Bancorp, a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with $169 billion in assets and over 20,000 employees. In this role, Stephanie is responsible for leading and creating corporate strategies that drive inclusion and diversity by leveraging innovative and dynamic tools that drive a more inclusive work environment that inspires employees, customers and community stakeholders.
Stephanie previously served as vice president and director of supplier diversity. Stephanie oversaw a 1300%+ increase in Fifth Third’s supplier diversity spend. Highlights for 2018 included Fifth Third being named one of “America’s Top Corporations” for women-owned companies by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBENC); Fifth Third’s supplier diversity program being named by Minority Business Network magazine (MBN) as one of the years “Best of the Decade;” and Stephanie being named one of 2018’s Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity by Diversity Plus Magazine. Stephanie’s early career at Fifth Third included roles as an AVP and Mortgage Loan Underwriter with lending authority up to confirming limits where she created the Good Neighbor loan product and as a Financial Center Manager.
Prior to joining Fifth Third Stephanie held roles as an Underwriter at Safeco Insurance company where she was promoted in 10 months to senior regional underwriter covering 12 states. She was also a Community Development Officer for Neighborhoods Housing Services in America and a Loan Officer for the City of Cincinnati Department of Housing.
Education
Stephanie earned her master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning.
Professional and Civic
Honors and Awards:
- 2020 Leadership Cincinnati Class 43
- 2020 Top 50 Chief Diversity Officers Award
- Career Mastered Diversity Leadership Award 2020
- 2019 Best of the Decade
- 2019 Most Influential Women in Corporate America
- 2018 Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity
- 2017-2019 WBENC Top Corporation Bronze
- 2016-2019 International Women’s Day – Leadership Panel
- Ohio MSDC 2015 Leader of the Year Award
- Ohio MSDC 2016 Class II Corporation of the Year
Organizations:
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra – Board & Diversity Committee
- Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
- University of Cincinnati Research Institute (UCRI)
- Shakespeare Theatre - I&D Committee
Senior Vice President and Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Fifth Third Bancorp
Stephanie Smith serves as senior vice president and chief inclusion & diversity officer for Fifth Third Bancorp, a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with $169 billion in assets and over 20,000 employees. In this role, Stephanie is responsible for leading and creating corporate strategies that drive inclusion and diversity by leveraging innovative and dynamic tools that drive a more inclusive work environment that inspires employees, customers and community stakeholders.
Stephanie previously served as vice president and director of supplier diversity. Stephanie oversaw a 1300%+ increase in Fifth Third’s supplier diversity spend. Highlights for 2018 included Fifth Third being named one of “America’s Top Corporations” for women-owned companies by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBENC); Fifth Third’s supplier diversity program being named by Minority Business Network magazine (MBN) as one of the years “Best of the Decade;” and Stephanie being named one of 2018’s Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity by Diversity Plus Magazine. Stephanie’s early career at Fifth Third included roles as an AVP and Mortgage Loan Underwriter with lending authority up to confirming limits where she created the Good Neighbor loan product and as a Financial Center Manager.
Prior to joining Fifth Third Stephanie held roles as an Underwriter at Safeco Insurance company where she was promoted in 10 months to senior regional underwriter covering 12 states. She was also a Community Development Officer for Neighborhoods Housing Services in America and a Loan Officer for the City of Cincinnati Department of Housing.
Education
Stephanie earned her master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning.
Professional and Civic
Honors and Awards:
- 2020 Leadership Cincinnati Class 43
- 2020 Top 50 Chief Diversity Officers Award
- Career Mastered Diversity Leadership Award 2020
- 2019 Best of the Decade
- 2019 Most Influential Women in Corporate America
- 2018 Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity
- 2017-2019 WBENC Top Corporation Bronze
- 2016-2019 International Women’s Day – Leadership Panel
- Ohio MSDC 2015 Leader of the Year Award
- Ohio MSDC 2016 Class II Corporation of the Year
Organizations:
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra – Board & Diversity Committee
- Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
- University of Cincinnati Research Institute (UCRI)
- Shakespeare Theatre - I&D Committee