Forty Under 40: Kevin Flores

Kevin Flores is living the American dream.

Due to the devastating effects of civil war in his native El Salvador, Flores immigrated to the United States with his single mother and siblings when he was 3 years old. He moved to Springdale at age 6, where his mother went to work on the Cargill poultry line.

Having to translate for his mother gave him the ability to “walk into any room, talk to anybody and find more things in common than differences.” After high school, Flores served as a Marine Corps embassy guard for six years, receiving top-secret clearance when he served on the President’s security detail. After the military, Flores attended Fordham University in New York City, interning in the Senate and graduating with an economics degree in 2015.

He was a senior administrative specialist in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., before attending the University of Arkansas law school, graduating in 2019 and becoming one of about 20 Hispanic attorneys in Arkansas.

In January, to help shape Springdale’s future, Flores became the youngest member, first Hispanic and first immigrant elected to the Springdale City Council.

“None of that would have been possible without my mom, but also this community in Springdale,” he said. “They raised me. I have been a recipient of a lot of people’s good deeds. That gave me strong roots in the community and helped me win the campaign.”

Flores serves on the advisory board of FourBlock, a national nonprofit in New York that helps transitioning veterans obtain jobs. He’s on the Springdale Public School Education Foundation and the Downtown Springdale Alliance boards and an active Rotary member.

Flores enjoys hiking, travel and hanging out in downtown Springdale.