Our director

Sharon Ament joined us in September 2012 to steer the world’s leading city museum through to the next phase of our development by inspiring a passion for London and reflecting the capital’s energy and dynamism.

Throughout her career Sharon has been driven by the simple premise of “turning people onto great ideas and causes”. This started early with her work for a number of social causes in Liverpool, thereafter she became involved in wildlife conservation and worked with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, moving from Lancashire to Slimbridge to oversee a national portfolio of wetland centres. In the 1990s she worked at the Zoological Society of London and from there joined The Natural History Museum. This built her passion for the power of museums, her skills at fundraising and creating new visitor facilities such as the Darwin Centre.

Sharon sits on the International Panel of the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. She is a member of the Arts Council England’s London Area Council; the Mayor’s Cultural Strategy Group and chaired the City of London Corporation’s planning board to create an impactful Great Fire 350 anniversary event in 2016.

Sharon chaired the Jury of the Ecsite 2016 Mariano Gago Awards for excellence in public engagement with science, and is a Fellow of the Noyce Leadership Institute which focuses on community impact.

Sharon lives in East Dulwich close to where she was born in Peckham, South East London. She grew up in both the country (Thetford, Norfolk) and the city (Liverpool). Sharon was the first person in her family to go to university. She cites the impact of the Museum of Liverpool, the Walker Art Gallery and the Picton Reading Room as being formative for her in her own learning in her early years.

Sharon studied History of Art at Leeds University and graduated in 1985. In her free time, Sharon enjoys wild spaces, gardening and travel, and has a passion for art, cycling, walking and is currently learning French.