Last week, United Way of Southeast Louisiana celebrated our 2025 Alexis de Tocqueville gala honoree, José S. Suquet, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Pan-American Life Insurance Group and long-serving United Way volunteer and donor. José captures perfectly the spirit of our Tocqueville Society: visionary, generous, and deeply committed to our community.
We recognized his transformative leadership throughout his partnership with United Way. He is focused on solutions, invested in people, and determined to build a stronger future. As Campaign Cabinet Chair, he helped us raise a record $22.6 million to support the region’s health, education, and financial stability following Hurricane Katrina. As Board Chair, he led long-term recovery efforts that rebuilt more than 1,000 homes, reopened 36 childcare centers, and later directed $415,000 in rapid-response grants to nonprofits serving communities impacted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Driving much of that work through the years is our generous partner and gala sponsor, Entergy Corporation, who we also honored for having the highest total of society members in a single workplace. Congratulations, once again, to Entergy and its leadership for their lasting support.
José was joined by his wife, Ileana, and son Joey, whose presence made the evening even more meaningful. Listening to Joey speak about his father reminded us all that leadership, at its core, is about legacy. Not just what you accomplish, but who you lift along the way.
At United Way, we help people. We lift them up. We are the convener, the connector, and the catalyst for change in Southeast Louisiana. We sit at the intersection of business, government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. But, we don’t do this work alone. We make it possible for everyone else to do it better, faster, and together. We were built for this 101 years ago, and to this day, remain committed to the United Way concept and what is possible when our vast and varied contributions are harnessed to help hard working families in their pursuit of economic prosperity.
José shares that commitment, too.
Together, we recognize that when families are stable, businesses grow. When children succeed in school, communities thrive. And when we invest in systems, not just symptoms, we see measurable, lasting change.
At our Prosperity Centers, families are improving their finances, finding better-paying jobs, and saving for their first homes. Through Home for Good, we’re helping end unsheltered homelessness by coordinating, not competing, with our partners. And our new Resiliency Center ensures families are ready before the next storm, not just rebuilding after it.
José helped expose a room full of new and established donors to our unmatched ability to generate lasting, meaningful impact over the last year. His influence was key in raising nearly $250,000 through sponsor contributions, a lively paddle raise, our silent and live auctions, and the Par for Suquet putting contest. Thanks to his leadership, we welcomed new philanthropic leaders and volunteer champions to the Tocqueville Society. To further strengthen this momentum, José matched the total raised with a $250,000 commitment through his foundation, for a total investment of $500,000, ensuring every dollar goes twice as far for those we serve.
Let’s keep investing in United Way and José’s shared vision of a region where every child can learn, every family can earn, and every community can stand strong, together. Because the future we want for Southeast Louisiana isn’t going to build itself. We have to build it, United.
United is the Way,
Michael Williamson
President and CEO
United Way of Southeast Louisiana
P.S. Thank you to our Visionary Sponsor, Pan-American Life Insurance Group, and to Entergy Corporation, Ochsner Health, and Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, as our Prosperity Pioneer Sponsors, and to Regions Bank and Jones Walker LLP as our Community Builder Sponsors.
