Sheldon Pontaoe has tallied several achievements throughout his career as an executive-level corporate counsel. Diversely experienced, he has spent more than 20 years developing and managing local and transnational teams consisting of full-time employees of varying substantive and cultural experiences. Sheldon Pontaoe’s teams have expanded under his leadership, transforming from purely operational departments to valuable components of multi-billion dollar companies.

Mr. Pontaoe has managed multi-million dollar budgets for companies including Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline. Drawing on his skills as an intellectual property attorney, he has managed large trademark portfolios (some in excess of 35,000 marks) and created cost savings in the millions. A leader in his field, he has also spearheaded the implementation of international changes related to the use of trademarks in the pharmaceutical industry.

Since 2018, Sheldon Pontaoe has brought his legal acumen and experience to Elanco. In his capacity as an Associate General Counsel, he heads legal operations and trademarks at the former Eli Lilly and Company affiliate, which is now an independent stand-alone publicly traded company.