Pan-American Life Insurance Group: Celebrating a Shared Journey with JA

From the very beginning, Pan-American Life Insurance Group has been part of the Junior Achievement story in Greater New Orleans. For 70 years, Pan-American Life has walked alongside JA, helping young people discover their potential and opening doors to brighter futures.

That history recently came to life in a remarkable way. While looking back through JA’s archives, we discovered photographs from 1965, when Pan-American sponsored a student-run JA Company called Unico.

In these faded black-and-white images, you can see the pride and determination of the students—Jerry Gremillion, Cairn Bryan, Edward Ellis, Alice Jones, Rene de Boisblanc, Marie Meany, William Bosworth III, Cladia Boortz, Perry Gibson, Darren Valentino, Austin Phillips, Mike Gambino, George Hall, and Carol Foret—who worked together to build their own business. Their efforts were rewarded that year when Unico won Best Booth at the JA awards ceremony.

UNICO 1965

Throughout these faded black-and-white images, you can see the pride and determination of the students—Jerry Gremillion, Cairn Bryan, Edward Ellis, Alice Jones, Rene de Boisblanc, Marie Meany, William Bosworth III, Cladia Boortz, Perry Gibson, Darren Valentino, Austin Phillips, Mike Gambino, George Hall, and Carol Foret—who worked together to build their own business. Their efforts were rewarded that year when Unico won Best Booth at the JA awards ceremony.

Fast forward nearly six decades, and Pan-American’s commitment to young people remains just as strong. Earlier this month, employees gathered at Five O’ Fore Golf + Entertainment to Play4JA, raising funds to carry on the same mission of preparing students for success. Seeing today’s team bring the same energy and enthusiasm that their predecessors once poured into JA Company programs reminds us that the spirit of JA, and of Pan-American’s support, spans generations.

Pan-American Employees Play 4 JA at

Five O’ Fore Golf + Entertainment

As JA celebrates 70 years of impact and approaches our 1 millionth student served, we honor not only the dedicated employees of today’s Pan-American Life Insurance Group, but also those whose support shaped the JA experience decades ago.

Were you in a JA Company program in 1965? If you remember Unico, or any of JA’s early student companies, we’d love to hear your story as we celebrate the past and look to the future. Visit www.jagno.org/alumni to share your story! Would your company like to Play 4 JA? Contact Gail@jagno.org to learn more.