About Me: Kelly Drennan is a systems thinker, social entrepreneur, thought leader, disruptor and collaborator who is devoted to making change within the fashion industry. Eleven years ago she founded Fashion Takes Action, out of her desire to create a better, more sustainable future for her two daughters.

Armed with more than a decade experience working in conventional fashion PR & Events (prior to starting FTA), Kelly was determined to raise awareness for its many negative social and environmental impacts – both with industry and consumers.
Kelly has a background in PR, Communications and Events, and manages all of these for FTA. She is also responsible for producing the World Ethical Apparel Roundtable (WEAR) which began in 2014, developing FTA’s youth education program My Clothes My World and Design Forward – Canada’s Sustainable Fashion Awards. Kelly is a sought after consultant for fashion designers and brands who want to embrace CSR and sustainability.

Kelly’s knowledge and passion for sustainable fashion is evident the minute you meet her. She has given hundreds of presentations to industry, academics and consumers in the hopes to raise awareness for responsible consumption and production, and for human rights in the fashion industry. Through this, she has earned respect from global leaders, industry colleagues, and the media, as a sustainable fashion go-to expert.

She has most recently been recognized as a Canadian environmental leader with the esteemed Clean 50 Award for her work in Education & Awareness, and is the first recipient of this award for the fashion industry.

Kelly is very passionate about the circular economy in fashion, and is responsible for convening a Textile Diversion Collective in Ontario. This multi-sector collaborative that has more than 30 stakeholders is committed to increasing the amount of textiles collected and diverted, as well as to finding solutions for reuse and recycling.