Transforming how we support parents to and through parenthood
Our first-of-its-kind child disability insurance benefit protects working parents when they need it most – when a child aged 0-26 develops a severe illness, injury, or disability.
Our mission
Nearly two million children in the U.S. have a serious disability or illness, and each needs dedicated care. For some, that is an extended stay in the hospital; for others, a lifelong commitment to supporting even the most basic aspects of daily life. For their parents, balancing work, family, and finances is beyond challenging.
The realities of a severe illness or disability are often overwhelming: enormous stress, broken relationships, upended finances, abandoned careers, and lost opportunities to provide early intervention that could have made a difference.
For too long, families have endured these financial and emotional hardships with limited support from employers, government, or our society at large.
We can do better. This is why we created Juno.
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Our story
Juno cofounder Dr. Snaebjorn (Snae) Gunnsteinsson grew up in Iceland. After a Ph.D. in economics at Yale and while working as a university professor, his sister-in-law gave birth early to a baby weighing just 1 1⁄2 pounds who was in the NICU for 4 months. Iceland provided financial support to Snae’s brother and sister-in-law so they could take time off from work and be with their son.
As Snae was preparing to start his own family, he looked for an insurance policy to provide protection in the event his future child became disabled, but found nothing available. In 2019, he met Juno’s other cofounder, Jordan Epstein, an experienced entrepreneur, company founder, new father of a baby boy, and steadfast believer that our country needs to do better in providing access to affordable healthcare and supporting families.
Together, the two of them teamed up to form Juno, and – along with a team of like-minded parents and professionals, and great partners like AIG – developed the first child disability insurance for the U.S. Throughout the years, the vision has always been the same: protect and support parents when they need it most, and help children affected by illness or disability reach their full potential.
Helping the broader community thrive
We’re a public benefit corporation, meaning we have a mission to give back as well as grow sustainably. This guides us in everything we do, including our commitment to donate 2% of every premium to help children and families. We donate to organizations that research childhood disabilities and diseases, as well as those that directly help families caring for children who are ill or have a disability.
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Juno: the Story Behind the Name
Juno is named for the mother of the Roman gods, Juno (Hera in Greek mythology). She was known as the patron protector of marriage, families, and children. The only mother of a child with a disability in Roman mythology, Juno felt like the perfect namesake. Here is her story.
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