Sophia Shi | Founder & CEO

Sophia Shi is a Chinese-Canadian social activist and model passionate about sustainable fashion and human rights advocacy. At 11, she became the youngest model to walk in Vancouver Fashion Week. Since then, she has been featured in British Vogue, Mexico Vogue, Youku, Sohu, Xinhua News, and Vogue China. Throughout her life, Sophia has been deeply involved in social work.

Passionate about human rights and sustainable fashion since high school, Sophia co-founded her high school's sustainability club in grade 9 and was president of the politics club, raising awareness about sustainability and critical social issues. Outside of school, Sophia is also the president of CYFA, a non-profit organization, where she helped raise over $90,000 for UNICEF, receiving congratulatory letters from members of parliament. She was also vice-president at Artful VBC and was an active member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, continuously contributing to her community. At 16, she delivered her first TEDx talk on unconditional self-love and the importance of authenticity, which has over 40,000 views on YouTube.

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Graduating with honours from the Byng Arts Mini School program, Sophia is in her second year at the UBC Sauder School of Business; she aims to integrate sustainability into business practices and advocate for ethical business. Through GVE's Future Leaders for Earth program, she aspires to inspire youth and demonstrate the potential each individual has to create positive change in their community. Sophia is recently crowned as Miss Teen Universe Canada 2025 and delivered her second TEDx speech to continue advocating for sustainable fashion and climate justice.