Scott Gilmore

For the mayor of Tararua District in New Zealand, see Scott Gilmore (mayor).
Scott Gilmore
Born
Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Alberta (B.Com.)
London School of Economics (M.Sc.)
Occupation
Known forFounding Building Markets
Spouse(s)
​
(sep. 2019)​
Children3
Parent(s)
RelativesPatrick Gilmore (brother)

Scott Gilmore is a Canadian social entrepreneur, former Canadian foreign service officer, and writer who is currently the senior advisor on foreign, defence, and security policy to Prime Minister Mark Carney. He is known for founding the non-profit Building Markets and as an advocate for capitalist expansion in the international development and charity sectors

Early life and education

Gilmore was born in northern Manitoba, the son of hockey player Tom Gilmore and Collette Gilmore. He is the brother of actor Patrick Gilmore. The family settled in Edmonton, Alberta when his father played for the World Hockey Association version of the Edmonton Oilers. Gilmore obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Alberta,[1] followed by a master's degree in international history from the London School of Economics.[2]

Career

Gilmore was a Canadian foreign service officer who began his career in Jakarta. From that post he covered the civil war resulting from the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, and later joined the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) peacekeeping mission under Sergio de Mello. In that role he became disillusioned with ineffective donor efforts to fight poverty. Based on this experience he quit his job as a diplomat in 2004 to launch the non-profit Building Markets.[3] and focus on capitalism instead of aid as a sustainable poverty solution.[4]

In 2006 Gilmore led a World Bank study to trace spending in peacekeeping missions that revealed only 5% of donor money entered the local economies. Based on those findings Gilmore launched a project in Afghanistan to channel international spending through local small businesses. This approach was successful and expanded to other countries.[2] Building Market's "buy local" policy was officially adopted by NATO, the United States government, and the United Nations.[1][5] In 2013 Gilmore was appointed to by the External Advisory Group overseeing the merger of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade with the Canadian International Development Agency.[6] He had previously been supportive of the merger.[7]

From 2014-2022, Gilmore wrote a weekly column for the Canadian week national newsmagazine Maclean's on issues such foreign affairs[8][9] and Canadian identity.[10][11][12]

Political Activism

During the 2017 Conservative leadership race, he was critical of Conservative Party of Canada candidates and advocated to building a new party around liberty, equality and facts over ideology.[13] Gilmore traveled across the country to start a conversation over it.[14]

On March 2025, Gilmore announced on LinkedIn that he was joining the prime minister office as senior advisor on foreign, defence, and security policy to Prime Minister Mark Carney.[15]

Awards and honours

Gilmore was named as "Transformational Canadian" by The Globe and Mail[2] and a Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. In 2009 he was awarded the $765,000 Skoll Prize for Social Entrepreneurship by philanthropist Jeff Skoll.[16] The University of Alberta awarded him a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2013.[1] He received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for professional excellence.[17]

Personal life

Gilmore was married to Catherine McKenna, former Liberal MP for Ottawa Centre and former cabinet minister until separating in 2019. They have three children together.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Pilger, Rick. "Putting Money Where It Matters Most". ualberta.ca. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Rockel, Nick (Dec 14, 2010). "Scott Gilmore makes peace missions more effective". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  3. ^ Scott, Graham F. (January 19, 2010). "Interview with Peace Dividend Trust's Scott Gilmore". This Magazine. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. ^ Carlyle, Erin (2013-11-17). "Building Markets: Meet The Start-Up Bringing Investors To The Fastest-Growing Economies in the World". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  5. ^ "NATO Afghan First Policy". NATO. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  6. ^ Blanchfield, Mike (October 30, 2013). "Paradis defends mining exec on advisory panel on international aid". Global News. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  7. ^ Berthiaume, Lee (March 23, 2013). "CIDA merger meets with controversy". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Maclean's Magazine". Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  9. ^ "How to really stop Russia: A million little carrots". Macleans.ca (in Canadian French). 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  10. ^ "Canada: A nation of strangers". Macleans.ca (in Canadian French). 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  11. ^ "Canada is not a country". Macleans.ca (in Canadian French). 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  12. ^ "Canada is not broken". Macleans.ca (in Canadian French). 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  13. ^ "Confessions of a self-loathing Tory". Macleans.ca (in Canadian French). 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  14. ^ McSheffrey, Elizabeth (2017-03-30). "Scott Gilmore, a "self-loathing" Conservative, wants to have dinner with you | Canada's National Observer: Climate News". www.nationalobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  15. ^ Vigliotti, Marco (2025-03-16). "Carney's office taking shape". iPolitics. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  16. ^ "Canadian NGO Wins Prestigious Skoll Award and Endorsement from US Leadership in Afghanistan". Newswire. December 15, 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  17. ^ Cohen, Andrew (Oct 31, 2012). "Let's find a better way to honour Canadians". Times Colonist Victoria. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  18. ^ Guly, Christopher (July 14, 2021). "McKenna set to dive into new, post-politics pool to combat climate change". The Hill Times. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  19. ^ "Small NGO, big results". Ottawa Citizen. January 7, 2015. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  • Media related to Scott Gilmore at Wikimedia Commons
  • Quotations related to Scott Gilmore at Wikiquote
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