Gordon Cooper

Background

About Gordon Cooper

Should I apply to the Canadian foreign service?” I asked myself this question as I emerged fresh from undergrad with a degree in international relations. The answer wasn't obvious. So I did what any 22-year old would do: I changed the channel and, together with my girlfriend, moved from Canada to Japan, passport and duffel bag in hand (but, pointedly, no job). We moved overseas “for a year”; it morphed into 22. Home over two decades included Fukuoka; Tokyo; Niigata; Singapore; London; Tokyo again; Singapore a second time; Ho Chi Minh City; and then Singapore one last time. In the middle of it all, my girlfriend became my wife. We had one kid. Then two. And in case three wasn't enough, twins arrived in 2009, making it a clean, even number: four kids. Raising a family overseas shaped much of who I am today. So did my travels in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. I have especially fond memories of Kigali, a second home of sorts for several years as I visited Rwanda monthly. In the end, I hadn’t joined the foreign service. My career was in electronic payments. Over eighteen years with Visa, I had the good fortune to play a role in a handful of innovations in financial services that are now woven into everyday life for people around the world (e.g. tapping a card or phone to buy a coffee). I hold various patents related to electronic payments. I am an operator at heart. I draw energy connecting strategy to execution for new businesses. This is what led me to open Visa’s office in Vietnam. It's what steered me to become a co-founder of RTGS.global, a UK-based wholesale FX settlement service. It's what fills my cup about being an independent director at two great Atlantic Canadian startups, PayTic and AIR - as well as the QE2 Foundation, Atlantic Canada's largest healthcare foundation, where I'm honored to serve as Chair. I am an accredited corporate director, having received the ICD.D designation from Canada's Institute of Corporate Directors. In 2024, I was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal from the Government of Canada. Outside of work and community, my family's pastime is all about food. From our current home in Halifax, Nova Scotia, we are always on the hunt for that next bowl of ramen, bee hoon or phở - or any other culinary connection to our memories overseas.