Forty Under 40: Eli Saldivar

Eli Saldivar has been at the center of the e-commerce world for more than 15 years.

Born in Pachuca, Mexico, Saldivar attended John Brown University because his sisters went there. He graduated in 2008 with international business and marketing degrees.

After school, Saldivar worked for a Chicago broker as a digital practice lead with the Saatchi & Saatchi account. In 2013, he became digital account director for Omnicom and, in 2015, went to Dallas as vice president of marketing.

In 2019, he moved to Northwest Arkansas for a job with Procter & Gamble to lead international digital commerce and marketing with responsibility for Walmart International, ending his time as director of healthcare marketing and digital commerce. A notable achievement was a Walmart International children’s safe drinking water program which donated 50 million liters of water across 26 countries.

In July, Saldivar transitioned to PepsiCo.

“They’re committed to delivering business today and building on what future business will look like,” he said.

Saldivar’s self-described superpower is putting people first and helping them succeed. Enthusiastic about advising e-commerce and technology startups, Saldivar is on Isomr’s advisory board. He mentors students and entrepreneurs through the University of Arkansas’ Technology Ventures.

With a passion for advancing Hispanic professional talent, Saldivar works with the mentoring program LatinXNA.

“Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest-growing areas for Hispanic talent, yet they’re highly underrepresented in the professional fields,” he said. “Hispanics make up 14% to 17% of the community but 5% in professional fields.”

As a board member for Signature Bank of Arkansas subsidiary Banco Sí, Saldivar is working to change that.