Sharon Thompson

Sharon Thompson JP, FIoL is a speaker who blends lived experience with senior civic leadership. A prominent political figure in the West Midlands, Sharon is best known for becoming Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority and serving as Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, where she has led major portfolios spanning housing, inclusive growth, jobs and skills, and cost of living support.

Sharon’s story starts with homelessness as a teenager, an experience that shaped how she thinks about policy, power, and people. After rebuilding her life, she moved into community-facing roles and public service, developing practical expertise in neighbourhoods, housing systems, and local delivery. Early work with Birmingham-based organisations and the voluntary sector sharpened Sharon’s ability to turn frontline insight into action, while her public appointments, including becoming a Justice of the Peace (JP), strengthened her perspective on accountability and fairness. These formative years still underpin Sharon’s style on stage, direct, grounded, and focused on outcomes.

Since being elected as a Councillor for Birmingham City Council in 2014, Sharon has held a series of senior leadership posts, including Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, Cabinet Member for Vulnerable Children and Families, and Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness. Sharon is widely recognised for helping deliver an 81 percent reduction in rough sleeping and for leading high-profile campaigns to improve standards in supported housing, contributing to the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. In 2023, Sharon became Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, making history as the first person from a Black or Asian background to hold the role in the city, with responsibility for major projects, inward investment, economic growth, and skills. Alongside this, Sharon became Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority, the first woman and first ethnic minority to hold the position, and has supported the region’s strategic agenda on skills, race equality, and economic development. Sharon is also the Founder of Tilt360 Ltd, supporting leadership development and organisational change.

Sharon is hired because audiences leave with practical leadership tools, sharper thinking about inclusion, and a clearer sense of how to deliver change in complex systems. Sharon speaks on political engagement, homelessness, housing, women in leadership, and Black, Asian and ethnic minority leadership, connecting strategy to real decisions and real lives. For example, Sharon can show how partnership working across councils, charities, and services translates into fewer people sleeping rough, and better routes into stable housing and work.