Attend the Fifth Third Bank Leadership Symposium at Music Hall on November 12
Join November 12, 2026, for this year’s Fifth Third Bank Leadership Symposium as attendees explore the theme, The Science of Inclusive Leadership. Featuring keynote speaker Dr. Janet Ahn, presenting: “The Leadership Playbook is Broken: What Does it Take to Lead?”.
The Fifth Third Bank Leadership Symposium is the Cincinnati region’s premier annual business event dedicated to advancing belonging and inclusion in the workplace and throughout our community. Bringing together professionals, community leaders, and organizations from across the region, the symposium serves as a powerful platform for collaboration, learning, and meaningful dialogue.
Each year, the event features respected local and national thought leaders who share innovative ideas, practical strategies, and inspiring perspectives that challenge attendees to think differently and lead more inclusively. Through dynamic keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions, and interactive breakout sessions, participants gain actionable tools to foster cultures of belonging within their organizations, teams, and communities.
The symposium continues to serve as a catalyst for progress, helping drive the Cincinnati region toward a future where everyone feels valued, seen, and empowered to thrive.
Tickets to Fifth Third Leadership Symposium
Tickets to the Fifth Third Leadership Symposium are $160.
About Keynote Speaker, Dr. Janet Ahn
Most behavioral scientists have never run a business. Most executives have never done the science. Dr. Ahn has done both.
As a researcher, published author, and former executive (President of the Americas at a global consultancy and training provider), Dr. Ahn has spent two decades studying the gap between what leadership teams intend and what their organizations actually experience — and why that gap is where performance is lost before it ever shows in the numbers. She believes the most expensive problems facing organizations today aren’t strategy failures. They’re behavioral ones which have concrete solutions.
When pressure rises (through growth, acquisition, or market volatility) the conditions that allow people to think clearly, speak honestly, and act with conviction are the first things to collapse. Most organizations call this a culture problem: everyone’s responsibility and no one’s accountability to fix. Dr. Ahn diagnoses it differently — as a set of specific, observable behaviors that leaders can identify, measure, and change. That distinction is the difference between naming a problem and actually solving it.
She is the author of Learning that CLICS: Using Behavioral Science for Effective Learning Design, a practical guide grounded in decades of peer-reviewed research on motivation, mindset, and behavior change. She has delivered keynotes and leadership sessions at Merck, P&G, Morningstar, AbbVie, Liquid I.V, Columbia Business School, Yale University, Duke Health, the University of Pennsylvania, and many more. Her expertise has been featured in Forbes, NPR, Business Insider, and The Atlantic.
Fifth Third Leadership Symposium Agenda
7:30 a.m. Registration & Breakfast
8 a.m. Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:15 a.m. Keynote Presentation with Dr. Janet Ahn
Main Stage Panel (TBD)
10 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Workshop Breakouts Round 1 (pick one)
- Workshop A (TBD)
- Inclusive Teaming: Beyond Good Intentions with Deborah A. Heater, JD, President & CEO, Strategic Performance Systems
- A Group Coaching Experience for Inclusive Leaders with Sonya Wallace, M.Ed, Founder, Provision Consulting, LLC
- Inclusive Leadership in Moments that Matter: Making Decisions People Can Trust with Takiyah Cunningham, Director of Organizational Development and Change Management, The Hillman Group
11 a.m. Break
11:15 a.m. Workshop Breakouts Round 2 (pick one)
- Winning Conversations 2.0: The Future of Inclusive Leadership Communication in the Age of AI with Kenston Henderson Sr., Founder & CEO,Live With Lyfe, LLC
- Inclusive Teaming: Beyond Good Intentions with Deborah A. Heater, JD, President & CEO, Strategic Performance Systems
- A Group Coaching Experience for Inclusive Leaders with Sonya Wallace, M.Ed, Founder, Provision Consulting, LLC
- Inclusive Leadership in Moments that Matter: Making Decisions People Can Trust with Takiyah Cunningham, Director of Organizational Development and Change Management, The Hillman Group
Noon Conclusion & Networking
Music Hall Venue Information
Parking
Near Music Hall, there is a 450-space underground garage, surface lots, and on-street parking. Use the Cincy EZ Park App to pay for parking as appropriate. Take the Cincinnati METRO to the venue.
Accessibility
The accessibility entrance is located on the southeast side of the building on Elm Street. Please ask a Music Hall usher or staff member for additional assistance or directions.
Prohibited Items
Music Hall restricts bag sizes to 12″ x 12″ for your safety. A staff member can make an exception for individuals with medical necessity. All bags and jackets are subject to inspection at the entrance.
View a list of prohibited items.
Additional Downtown Excursions
Discover Black-owned businesses in downtown Cincinnati, from flavorful restaurants and sweet dessert spots to cozy coffee shops, stylish clothing boutiques, lively nightclubs, and more.
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Images provided by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber
