Henry was raised by her grandparents until the age of four when her family went to reside in Tsawwassen, Canada until she was 14. Even then, she would visit the Philippines every summer and Christmas. Upon her family’s return to the Philippines, they first lived in Albay, Bicol for a year before residing permanently in Cebu.
She studied high school at Camp Lapulapu National High School in 2003, and had her college at the University of Cebu in 2005. Henry's father travels a lot, and she had to transfer school most of the time. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Tourism and was working with Marco Polo Plaza Hotel when she was invited to join the Miss Earth pageant. She also studied the Spanish language.
In the final competition of the eighth edition of the international beauty pageant Miss Earth, which was held at Clark Expo in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines on November 9, 2008, Henry was announced as one of sixteen semi-finalists who would move forward to compete for the title. She achieved one of the eight highest scores in the swimsuit competition for her stage chops, which advanced her as one of the top eight finalists to participate in the evening gown competition. She strutted a yellow-green evening gown with a high middle slit laden with rainbow-colored beads and sequins along the bodice. She then pulled away for the lead as she articulated in her video interview about going around public schools teaching about the environment as she cited that lack of knowledge about environmental concerns is a key issue in her country, in which she advanced to the top four.
In the last round, the court of four were asked one question, “What would you tell US president-elect Barack Obama about the state of the global environment if ever you were to meet him?” She used the shopworn cliché “I believe the children are our future” but gave a fresh new context to that line that added to her advantage when she answered, “Environmental knowledge is something that all of us must share, but most importantly we must teach the youth that this is something that we should instill in them so that in the near future they will be the ones to take care of our mother Earth.” She placed the highest score in the interview round and at the conclusion of the competition, she was crowned Miss Earth.
