Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry is a lifelong resident of Corona/East Elmhurst proudly representing New York City’s 21st Council District, serving the neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst, Lefrak, and Jackson Heights. She currently serves as Chair of the New York City Council Committee on Small Business, where she is focused on strengthening local entrepreneurship, expanding access to opportunity, and advancing policies that support working families and community-based economic growth.

Raised in a family rooted in service and small business, Council Member Thomas-Henry understands firsthand the role local businesses play in creating opportunity and stability in neighborhoods like the ones that raised her. Her early experiences around her family’s businesses along Northern Boulevard shaped her long-standing commitment to economic development, education, and community investment.

Shanel’s father is a 20 year retired army First Sergeant and her mother has had a number of careers from childcare to bus operator for New York City Transit. Shanel is the oldest of five and helped raise her younger sister who is 14 years younger.

With more than two decades of experience in community development and public engagement, Council Member Thomas-Henry has led initiatives that connect residents to jobs, scholarships, workforce development, and public resources. Before joining the City Council, she served as Community Outreach Manager for the $8 billion LaGuardia Redevelopment Program, where she helped launch workforce pipelines, scholarship opportunities, and STEM programming designed to ensure local families benefited directly from major public investment.

A graduate of Howard University, where she earned degrees in International Business and Public Administration, Council Member Thomas-Henry has also pursued international study in Paris and Oaxaca. Her work remains grounded in the belief that economic development must be community-centered, creating pathways not only to employment, but to ownership, mobility, and long-term opportunity.

Deeply connected to District 21 through decades of civic leadership, she has served on numerous local boards and organizations including, but not limited to, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc., Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens CDC, the 115th Precinct Council and Community Board 3 all of which are dedicated to youth development, housing, public safety, and neighborhood advancement. She lives in East Elmhurst with her husband and two daughters and remains guided by a simple principle: public service should create real pathways to opportunity for the communities that have long invested in Queens.