Sylvester (Sly) Spencer-Lee is a scientist turned two-time founder who has spent his career exploring emerging fields and building products within them. He began as a marine biologist with the National Park Service at Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i, after earning a Master’s of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a focus on Environmental Toxicology. As a Co-Founder of The Hydrous, his experience in science, emerging technologies and entrepreneurship brings the organization a valuable perspective on innovation, product development, and translating complex ideas into meaningful experiences that foster human connection.

Sly later co-founded Emerge at a Google X and NASA incubator, where he helped develop a new paradigm for human connection through holographic calls enabled by ultrasound beamforming technology. Emerge was acquired by an international semiconductor company in 2026.

Today, Spencer-Lee serves as Senior Vice President at XPRIZE, where his team brings multimillion-dollar prizes to market across health, climate, food, deep tech and learning. His experience also includes serving as co-chair of a World Economic Forum Global Future Council. He has been recognized as an Ole Miss Young Alumni of the Year and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, and he coaches startup founders.

Outside his professional work, Spencer-Lee is an avid scuba diver who has spent the equivalent of a month underwater across more than 500 dives. He also enjoys playing music and rock climbing. A lover of books, philosophy, and Daoism, he is currently working on his first book about Kalaupapa, Hawai‘i.