Shannen Kaylia Henry, MSc, is a sustainable fashion entrepreneur, materials innovator, and ecosystem builder focused on circular design, bio-based materials, and the development of more resilient fashion systems. She is Founder and CEO of CocoaFiber, where she leads the development of a regenerated cellulose fiber derived from cocoa agricultural waste. Her work spans feedstock characterization, cellulose extraction and purification, dope development, wet spinning, and the scale-up of decentralized production systems using non-wood biomass. She is also Founder and Sustainable Fashion Consultant at The Kaylia Group, advising brands, institutions, and emerging ventures on circular systems, responsible textile sourcing, material innovation, product development, and sustainability strategy.

Shannen is Executive Director of SustainableDesignImpactHub and a Founder Fellow at Newlab. She also serves on the Advisory Council of Brooklyn STEAM Center and the President's Alumni Advisory Council of the American University of Paris, and is a Next-Gen Assembly Member of Global Fashion Agenda and a member of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network. She previously served as a COP28 Delegate and Ministerial Advisor and was a Climate Fellow at Halcyon. A frequent guest lecturer at institutions including Parsons, Cornell, and Columbia, she teaches and speaks on fashion systems, biomaterials, entrepreneurship, and circular economies. Her work combines material innovation, supply chain strategy, education, and ecosystem development to advance more circular and decentralized approaches to fashion.