Alexandria, VA, August 12, 2021— Invest™, the insurance industry's premier classroom-to-career education program, has appointed Juan Padron, partner at SafeGuard Insurance Agency in McAllen, Texas, as the new chair of the national Invest board.
Padron has been part of the insurance industry since 2002. He has served on the Invest board since 2019 as an agent member and currently serves on the board of the Independent Insurance Agents of the Rio Grande Valley as well as the regional advisory board for Teach for America of the Rio Grande Valley. From 2008 to 2016, Padron served on the Big “I" Diversity Council, chairing the group from 2009 to 2016. He received a Big “I" Chairman's Award in October 2015. Through service in various affinity groups and trade associations, Padron has been a champion for education and has been involved in awarding many scholarships to young people pursuing college degrees.
“With his extensive insurance and management experience, Juan's leadership of the Invest board will be critical to supporting Invest's mission of bringing new, diverse talent into the insurance industry," says Deborah Pickford, executive director of Invest. “We look forward to partnering with Juan on programs that will attract more people to insurance careers."
Prior to joining the insurance industry, Padron worked as an aerospace engineer at NASA in Houston and for General Electric as a Six Sigma Black Belt. Padron earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Houston, and an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation from The Institutes.
About Invest
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, Invest benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers, and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented, and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers, and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons. For more information, visit investprogram.org.
About the Big 'I'
The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I") was founded in 1896 and is the nation's oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of approximately a quarter of a million agents, brokers and their employees nationally.