Forty Under 40: Jason Marshall, 37

Jason Marshall grew up in a troubled neighborhood in Dallas, which he said gave him an appreciation for the opportunities he’s been given.

After graduating from Texas A&M at Commerce in 1998 with a degree in general business and Spanish, he went on to graduate from Yale University with a master’s in business in 2004 before moving to Northwest Arkansas to work for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Now Marshall is responsible for the associate payroll card and the global gift card programs. He’s led efforts to remove costs and risks from some of the payment processes at Walmart and Sam’s Club, and has implemented technology that has been used in the gift card programs in stores worldwide.

Marshall is also involved in Walmart’s Hispanic/Latino Associate Resource Group, and co-founded a mentorship program at Oakdale Middle School in Rogers that will be expanded into other schools.
“There’s a group of us at Wal-Mart from similar personal backgrounds and one of the things we all had in common was that when we were students, we did not have tangible role models, we didn’t interact with professionals,” he said. “We knew there was another generation facing those same challenges. They aspire to have a better life, but their dreams are very abstract.

“Without a real-world example in front of them, it’s hard to turn those abstract dreams into real goals.”