Monique Cooper graduated from City Honors High School, briefly attended community college and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
The Buffalo native worked as an operations intelligence analyst out of Syracuse Hancock International Airport, making her part of a fast-moving team and allowing her to travel around the country.
She exited the military in 2017 and ended up working at Priam Enterprises, Paul Kolkemeyer’s real estate firm, and then at L&M Wealth Management in Amherst.
She has kind words for the L&M team but said the highly regulated finance industry didn’t feel like her wheelhouse. She went looking for the fast and team-based approach of her days in the military and at Priam. The startup community beckoned.
“I really wanted to stay in Buffalo, which is a wonderful place and where my friends and family are,” the 30-year-old said. “I wasn’t absolutely sure I was going to be able to find a startup in Buffalo.”
What she found was HiOperator, the customer-service-as-a-service tech startup led by CEO Elizabeth Tsai, which came here after winning the $500,000 award in the 43North business competition in 2018.
When Cooper joined the firm as Tsai’s executive assistant, HiOperator had a handful of employees working out of the 43North incubator, then in the Innovation Center on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
Hundreds of employees have been hired since that time as the businesses expanded, and Cooper has transitioned into roles that include account success and operations manager, head of e-commerce and, most recently, chief of staff.
She now reports directly to HiOperator Chief Operating Officer Alex Kogan. HiOperator has become one of the biggest tech stories in Buffalo, as it recently decided to establish a 25,000-square-foot headquarters in the Roblin Building (owned by Priam, which is not entirely a coincidence).
Cooper’s role now gives her access to many different parts of the company as it matures around its burgeoning customer base.
“I love and look forward to growing into this role,” she said. “I’m really confident we’re going to be one of the big names in the industry and a company that one day everyone will know.”
For all things Buffalo tech and startups, sign up now for The Beat newsletter, launching May 18.
She’s also part of an entrepreneurial family. Cooper’s sister is Deidre Batson-Griggs, who founded tech-enabled delivery service Spatched with her husband, Dante.
Cooper is showing kids from Buffalo a real-world example of a young tech entrepreneur in Buffalo. She is part of the Buffalo Prep alumni program and actively invests her time in the nonprofit initiative, which identifies economically disadvantaged children and supports college preparatory education from grades 5-12 at partner private, public and charter schools.
“I’ve had so many friends come home over the years and start working in the tech sector because there are opportunities for them,” she said. “I can tell that story to the next generation of tech in Buffalo and show them what this city has to offer.”
