Garry Cooper is CEO & co-founder of Rheaply, a B2B climate technology company working to scale reuse and the circular economy by helping lower procurement costs and reduce waste. He also serves as a general partner with LongJump, a pre-seed venture fund based in Chicago and designed to invest in the next generation of underrepresented founders and overlooked ideas. Previously, Cooper was an adjunct assistant professor at Northwestern, helping trainees, faculty and staff more seamlessly connect to the Chicago business community. Prior to his faculty position, Garry facilitated supply chain and performance improvement for leading biotechnology enterprises at Ernst & Young. Before that, Cooper began his career as a postdoctoral fellow and visiting scholar at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he led the drug discovery effort for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, for which he holds a U.S. patent. He also serves as a board member of P33 Chicago, 1871, Northwestern’s Master of Product Design and Management program and Improovy, and is the chairman of the board of Rheaply.
He has been twice recognized as a Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs 2021 & 2022, an Emerson Collective Dial Fellow, one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 Chicago, Chicago Power 30, and Forbes Next 1000. He is a former Google for Entrepreneurs Fellow and a member of YPO Chicago Chapter, the Forbes Chicago Business Council, and The Economic Club of Chicago. Garry is a member of the 2023 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.