our commitment tosocial responsibility

Pitch perfect. That's what comes to my mind when I hear him share those profound and simple words with our employees. It reflects both the expectation and absolute dedication at Fifth Third to operate in all respects as a socially responsible company. We expect to make a positive impact by treating people both inside and outside our Company with the respect and attention they deserve. With every transaction and every interaction, we want to earn a reputation for being trustworthy and for conducting ourselves in a highly ethical and professional manner. We firmly believe we are all members of one community, and we want to be your one bank.

After spending the past many years as regional president and CEO in Florida, I am honored now to serve in the newly created role of chief corporate social responsibility and reputation officer, and to be a member of the executive leadership team. My elevation to this new position highlights the importance Fifth Third places on its CSR strategy and execution. Our community work, our reputation and our brand equity are all key components of the NorthStar strategy, which is our guiding light for Fifth Third's future. I'm excited to work with all of you for the betterment of our communities.

The $30 billion commitment to the community we announced in 2016 is a prime example of our focus on corporate citizenship. It's a five-year set of targeted goals and specific actions that we developed in conjunction with more than 145 community organizations affiliated with the NCRC. We considered the areas of greatest need for lending, investments and service within each community we serve. We are executing the plan and deploying resources to make a real and measurable impact.

As of this writing, we are well into year two of our commitment. We are pleased to report results of year one in the following pages. It was a successful and productive 12 months when measured against our five-year goals. In fact, we are ahead of pace in a majority of the focus areas. More important, 2016 was a year during which we built an extremely strong foundation to generate an even greater impact in the coming years.