John Lewis chair Sharon White tops list of influential black Britons

Dame Sharon White said she hoped ‘we can take the serendipity out of social mobility’. Photograph: Terry Murden/Alamy

Dame Sharon White, the first ever female chair of John Lewis Partnership, has been named the UK’s most influential black person.

White topped the 2023 Powerlist, an annual list that aims to provide professional role models for young people of African and African Caribbean heritage. Other prominent black Britons on this year’s list include the actor, writer and creator of I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel, the actor and writer Sir Lenny Henry, and the rapper Stormzy.