Sharon studied at Cambridge University and University College London and she was recently Chair of the John Lewis Partnership, the first woman appointed to that position. Prior roles include Chief Executive for Ofcom (UK communications regulator), Second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, Director General at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for International Development, as well as an advisory role at the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit.

During her time living in the US, Sharon worked first for the Foreign Office and then in Washington DC as a senior economist at the World Bank. She was awarded a Damehood in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours 2020 for her work at Ofcom and she was named as the UK’s most influential black person in the 2023 Powerlist, which aims to provide professional role models for young people of African and African Caribbean heritage.