Scott Gilmore

Scott Gilmore
Scott Gilmore, the founder of Building Markets speaking on BBC's Doha Debates
Born	Flin Flon, Manitoba
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	University of Alberta, London School of Economics
Occupation	Social Entrepreneur, Writer, Diplomat
Known for	Founding Building Markets
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Catherine McKenna

Scott Gilmore is a social entrepreneur and writer who is known for founding the charity Building Markets and as an advocate for reform in the international development and charity sectors.

Gilmore was born in northern Manitoba, the son of hockey player Tom Gilmore and Collette Gilmore. He is the brother of actor Patrick Gilmore. Gilmore grew up in Edmonton, Alberta where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Alberta. He later graduated with a master's degree from the London School of Economics.

Gilmore was a Canadian diplomat who began his career in Jakarta. From that post he covered the East Timor conflict and later joined the United Nations peacekeeping mission UNTAET 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 charity Building Markets. and focus on entrepreneurship instead of aid as a sustainable poverty solution.

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. Building Market's "buy local" policy was officially adopted by NATO, the United States government, and the United Nations. 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. He had previously been supportive of the merger.