Shannen-Kaylia Henry, MSc, is the founder of CocoaFiber™, a biotech company transforming chocolate industry waste into next-generation materials. She also founded the Council on Sustainable Fashion and Design of Grenada, a nonprofit empowering circular entrepreneurs in Small Island Developing States. A native New Yorker, Shannen’s world travels—living in France, Italy, and India—shaped her passion for sustainable innovation. While working in sustainability communications for a textile company in Tamil Nadu, India, she witnessed firsthand the environmental toll of synthetic textiles. A few years later, after visiting her grandfather’s cocoa farm, she recognized the vast, untapped potential of agricultural waste in the chocolate industry—and set out to transform that waste into value. Her work in sustainable fashion has garnered support from the Fashion Impact Fund and The Ocean Foundation. Today, Shannen lives in Biella, Italy—a historic textile town in the foothills of the Italian Alps—where she is building the supply chain network to bring CocoaFiber to life. With a background in biology and international business management, Shannen brings a multidisciplinary approach to solving some of the industry’s toughest challenges. She is a member of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network, the International Society for Industrial Ecology, and a beVisioneers: Mercedes-Benz Fellow. Driven by a love of nature, a passion for craftsmanship, and a commitment to climate action, Shannen’s mission is to advance nature-based, high-performance alternatives that foster equity, regeneration, and resilience across global value chains.