Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Co-founder of UK Black Pride and a global LGBTQ+ advocate, Lady Phyll has spent her life creating space for others to exist fully and safely.
This portrait is part of the Empowering Her Collection, featuring the women shaping Britain today.
A woman who built visibility where there was none.
Lady Phyll never waited for space to be made for her. She built it herself, founding UK Black Pride, now one of Europe's largest celebrations of Black, Asian and LGBTQ+ communities.
Her activism was built through decades of visibility work, in spaces that weren't built to include her, as a Black, queer woman navigating movements that often centred neither. It reflects a life carried by both survival and responsibility: as a leader whose work has shaped LGBTQ+ rights internationally, and as a mother building a legacy for her daughter to inherit.
During the portrait sitting, Lady Phyll spoke about legacy.
She spoke about what it means for her daughter to grow up knowing her mother's story, told in full.
Her life reflects a rare kind of leadership: one built not on institutional permission, but on the refusal to stay invisible, for herself and for everyone who came after her.
This portrait captures that legacy directly. The books she holds reference memory, truth and resistance, placing her personal history within a wider lineage of queer and Black thought.
Explore the collection
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
A writer, mother and human rights advocate, Nazanin’s six years of unjust imprisonment demanded extraordinary resilience.
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Sally Phillips
Comedian, actor and writer, Sally Phillips has built a career by telling the truth through humour.
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General Dame Sharon Nesmith
The first female four-star general and the highest-ranking military officer in the British Army, General Nesmith's career has reshaped what's possible for women in the Army.
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Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Co-founder of UK Black Pride and a global LGBTQ+ advocate, Lady Phyll has spent her life creating space for others to exist fully and safely.
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Emma Barnett
Award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Emma has built a career centred on listening deeply.
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Zoe Stratford
Captain of England’s Red Roses and World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year, Zoe has become one of the defining leaders in women’s rugby.
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Daryl Fielding
Marketing leader and creative force behind Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, Daryl Fielding helped transform how women and girls see themselves.
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Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Space scientist, educator and broadcaster, Dr Maggie has spent her career opening up science to wider audiences who’ve never seen themselves reflected in STEM.
