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During the past 125 years, our Hancock Whitney organization has grown substantially, now serving clients and communities across the five contiguous Gulf Coast states. Our fundamental mission, however, has remained constant: to help people achieve their financial goals and dreams. Similarly, our purpose — the reason we come to work every day — has always been to help create opportunities for people and the communities we serve.
Since the day we opened our doors, we’ve supported quality education that nurtures the knowledge, skills, and experiences young people need to pursue and realize their dreams. Countless educators devoted to their profession and their students are the “dream-makers” who grow minds, strengthen character, and help ready young people for futures filled with bright opportunities.
Recently, we honored 10 of the state’s most accomplished teachers as 2025 recipients of the Leo W. Seal Innovative Teacher Grants for their accomplishments and to fund original creative teaching projects designed to enrich students’ education with hands-on learning opportunities, support state curriculum requirements, and help pave the way for students to dream and achieve.
Learn more about the Leo Seal grants and the 2025 recipients’ award-winning projects at https://www.hancockwhitney.com/newsroom/hancock-whitney-gccf-award-10-leo-seal-teacher-grants-for-2025.
2025 Leo W. Seal Innovative Teacher Grant Recipients
Creative Learning and Core Values
This year’s Seal grant winners, like past honorees and so many other outstanding teachers, build solid educational foundations for their students. Through their exemplary dedication to doing more to help students be more, they bring lessons to life. They show their students the real-world relevance of what they learn and how to apply what they know to succeed.
Through what they do and how they teach, they also guide students to become contributing citizens who make a positive difference for the places they call home, imparting principles akin to the core values central to who we are and how we serve at Hancock Whitney since 1899: Honor & Integrity, Strength & Stability, Commitment to Service, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility.
While STEM and STEAM courses are essential for a strong, broad-based academic background, instilling in students a solid sense of responsibility, accountability, and citizenship — of how to do good and do right — is the foundation for a solid life education.
See and hear more about these extraordinary educators’ commitment to their students at
Honoring Excellence
Thirty-one years ago, we established the Seal grants in partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation (GCCF) to recognize and reward educational excellence among outstanding teachers in the eight Mississippi counties we serve.
The program also pays tribute to the legacies of two of our longtime company leaders, Leo W. Seal, Sr., bank president from 1932 until his death in 1963, and his son, Leo W. Seal, Jr., the bank’s chief executive for 45 years, both tireless advocates for educational and economic opportunities throughout their lives.
We salute, celebrate, and thank this year’s Leo W. Seal Innovative Teacher Grant recipients and offer our heartfelt gratitude to teachers everywhere for all they do every day to help students follow and find their dreams.
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