Mr. Cooper is managing director of the Winnipeg Angel Organization and serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba.

Mr. Cooper has experience as a lender and investor with several corporations and financial institutions. In addition, he has considerable experience in the development of business strategy, long term planning and board leadership. Recently, as chief executive of the Winnipeg Stock Exchange (WSE), he worked with business owners, securities dealers and government to facilitate access to capital for new and emerging businesses.

Mr. Cooper is a professional engineer with a civil engineering degree from the University of Manitoba and a master’s degree in business administration from Ivey. His experience includes project management with Imperial Oil; interim and term lending positions with insurance and banking institutions including Citadel Assurance, Citibank and the Mercantile Bank of Canada. He managed equity real estate investments and direct property development with Great-West Life, Campeau Corporation and MEPC American Properties. As chief executive at Inland Trust he developed a strategy offering a full range of financial services through a virtual branch system of deposit and mortgage agents across Canada. At the WSE he designed and implemented new programs including Keystone Companies, a
capital pool system and the Manitoba Equity Tax Credit, a tax plan assisting new, small public issuers to access capital. His investment and management experience spans over 35 years and includes 15 years direct U.S. experience with 9 years residence in that market place.

He currently serves on the Securities Advisory Committee for the Manitoba Securities Commission. He has lectured at the University of Manitoba on Business Policy for Continuing Education & the Canadian Institute of Management. He is also a past board representative for the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and past board member for
the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Mr. Cooper’s current community interests include The Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation as director and past president, as Chair of the Glenlawn Collegiate Scholarship Foundation and as director and Treasurer of Hoops Downtown, an inner city youth leadership development program. He was also the federal Conservative candidate in Saint Boniface in the 2004 and 2006 elections and has served on the boards of the Victoria General Hospital Foundation, the University of Manitoba as a member of the Campaign Cabinet and Development Council, as governor and Vice President Finance of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and as a director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre and Manitoba Theatre for Young People.