Sophie Pender: The 93% Club Founder Changing Who Gets Ahead

Introduction

Sophie Pender is a British social-mobility campaigner, qualified lawyer and the founder of The 93% Club. She started the group while studying at the University of Bristol after noticing how much easier university life could be for students who arrived with established social and professional networks.

The idea started small. Very small.

It was a Facebook group.

Today, The 93% Club describes itself as the UK’s state-school alumni network, while its current team page lists Pender as Chief Executive Officer. As of September 2026, running the organisation remains her main professional role.

Her story is unusual because she has worked on both sides of the issue she talks about. Pender came from a low-income background, entered a Russell Group university, trained as a corporate lawyer and then left legal practice to work on social mobility full time.

Quick Facts About Sophie Pender

Quick Fact	Details
Full name	Sophie Angela Pender
Born	June 1996
Nationality	British
Raised in	North London, England
University	University of Bristol
Degree	BA, graduated in 2017
Further study	Law studies at BPP Law School
Profession	Social-mobility campaigner, charity leader and qualified lawyer
Known for	Founding The 93% Club
Current role	Founder and CEO of The 93% Club
Major recognition	Forbes 30 Under 30, Diana Award and Diana Legacy Award
Other public role	UNICEF UK trustee

Companies House records her full name as Sophie Angela Pender, her birth month as June 1996 and her nationality as British.

Sophie Pender’s Early Life

Pender grew up on a council estate in North London.

Money was tight.

In an interview published by the University of Bristol, she said she was mainly raised by her mother and described her family as very poor. She also spoke publicly about losing her father during her teenage years after his struggles with alcohol.

Education became an important part of her life.

The Diana Award says she worked jobs at McDonald’s and John Lewis while studying. In 2014, she became the first student at her school to achieve straight A* grades at A-level.

That academic record opened another door.

She went to Bristol.

And things changed quickly.

University of Bristol and a Big Culture Shock

Pender entered the University of Bristol in 2014 and later graduated with a BA in 2017. She was the first person in her family to attend university.

Getting there was one challenge.

Fitting in was another.

Pender has spoken openly about noticing class differences soon after arriving. Some students already understood social codes, professional networks and university culture that were unfamiliar to her.

She even became conscious of her accent.

Those experiences later shaped her work.

In her second year, Pender started a Facebook group for state-educated students. She called it The 93% Club.

The name referred to the large majority of British people educated in state schools and the organisation’s argument that this group was under-represented in many influential professional networks.

The university society needed only 30 sign-ups.

It received around 500 in its first year, according to Pender’s University of Bristol interview.

That was the first real sign.

People wanted this.

How The 93% Club Started

Pender founded The 93% Club in 2016, when she was 19.

The original idea was simple: give state-educated students access to contacts, career support and shared knowledge that some privately educated students may already receive through school and family networks.

It wasn’t meant to replace hard work.

It was about access.

The early Bristol group started getting attention from students elsewhere. Pender later said that requests from other universities increased sharply in 2019.

New groups began appearing.

The project eventually became a registered national organisation.

The Diana Award reported in 2022 that The 93% Club had supported thousands of students across more than 50 universities.

The University of Bristol described it in 2024 as a nationwide charity with clubs at more than 45 UK universities.

The organisation has since expanded beyond students. It now presents itself more broadly as a network for state-educated people.

She Trained as a Lawyer Too

Pender didn’t immediately make The 93% Club her full-time career.

She went into law.

One of the organisation’s early corporate supporters was international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. Pender later secured a training contract there.

She trained as a corporate lawyer and worked in areas including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and start-ups.

Later, she moved to Bates Wells, a law firm known for working with charities and purpose-led organisations. UNICEF UK’s current profile confirms both stages of her legal career.

This part matters.

Pender wasn’t talking about professional access from the outside. She had entered a major professional-services firm herself and seen how recruitment, networks and workplace culture worked.

Still, The 93% Club kept growing.

Eventually, she had a choice to make.

Leaving Law for The 93% Club

By 2024, Pender had moved her attention to The 93% Club full time.

She told the University of Bristol that she was working with universities and major employers to make career opportunities and useful networks less dependent on someone’s educational background.

As of September 2026, The 93% Club’s official website still lists her as CEO. UNICEF UK also identifies her as the organisation’s Founder and CEO.

So her career changed direction.

Law became part of her background.

Social mobility became the day-to-day job.

Government Youth Work

Pender’s work has also reached government policy discussions.

She was appointed to a UK Government advisory group connected with the development of the National Youth Strategy. GOV.UK identifies her as the founder of The 93% Club and Foundation among the people who helped shape the strategy.

Her role focused on bringing experience from social mobility and youth advocacy into those discussions.

This work sits naturally beside The 93% Club.

Both deal with access.

Both deal with opportunity.

And both ask who gets heard.

Sophie Pender and UNICEF UK

Pender later joined UNICEF UK’s leadership structure as a trustee.

UNICEF UK’s current profile identifies her as Founder and CEO of The 93% Club and notes her earlier legal career at Herbert Smith Freehills and Bates Wells.

The appointment added another strand to her public work, this time connected with a large international children’s organisation.

She has also held other board and advisory positions.

One earlier role was with the Mayor’s Fund for London. Companies House records that her appointment as a director ended on 8 December 2025.

Awards and Recognition

Pender’s work began receiving national recognition while she was still building her legal career.

Forbes named her to its 30 Under 30 list. Its profile identifies her as Founder of The 93% Club and records her education at the University of Bristol and BPP Law School.

The University of Bristol gave her its Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Award in 2022 for her work with The 93% Club.

She received The Diana Award in 2022.

Then came another major honour.

On 14 March 2024, Pender was one of 20 young people from around the world to receive The Diana Legacy Award.

Her connection with the organisation continued.

In June 2026, The Diana Award confirmed that Pender took part in an SXSW London discussion and later met the Prince of Wales alongside fellow Legacy Award recipient Vivi Lin.

Sophie Pender’s TEDx Talk

Pender has also spoken publicly about the personal side of social mobility.

Her TEDx talk, “How to Become Socially Mobile,” was released through TED in February 2023.

The talk looked beyond the simple idea that academic success automatically removes class barriers. She discussed what happened after moving from council housing into universities and professional settings where many people had grown up with very different resources and expectations.

That distinction is central to her public work.

Getting through the door matters.

Feeling able to stay matters too.

What Does The 93% Club Actually Do?

The organisation focuses on connections, career access and support for people educated in state schools.

Networking is a big part.

So is practical help.

Pender has previously discussed events offering students professional headshots, mock interviews and career-development support.

The bigger idea is easy to understand.

Two graduates can have similar grades.

Yet one may already know lawyers, executives, recruiters or people working inside a target industry. The other may know nobody there.

The 93% Club tries to narrow that gap.

Its current site calls the organisation the UK’s state school alumni network.

Why Is Sophie Pender Known?

The answer is pretty clear.

Pender is known because she turned her own experience of class differences at university into an organisation that spread across Britain.

She did this while building a legal career.

Then she changed course.

The student Facebook group became a national network. Her public role grew with it.

That is why her name now appears across education, social mobility, youth policy and charity work.

Final Thought

Sophie Pender’s public career started with a problem she could see around her.

State-educated students had ability.

What many lacked were connections.

She started trying to fix that gap at university. Years later, The 93% Club had become her full-time work, while her own career had moved through corporate law, charity leadership, government advisory work and national boards.

As of September 2026, she remains Founder and CEO of The 93% Club. That is still the clearest answer to what Sophie Pender does today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Sophie Pender?

Sophie Pender is a British social-mobility campaigner, qualified lawyer and Founder and CEO of The 93% Club.

What is Sophie Pender known for?

She is best known for founding The 93% Club, a network supporting state-educated students and professionals.

When did Sophie Pender start The 93% Club?

She founded the group in 2016 while studying at the University of Bristol.

Where did Sophie Pender study?

She studied at the University of Bristol and graduated in 2017. Forbes also records law studies at BPP Law School.

Was Sophie Pender a lawyer?

Yes. She trained in corporate law at Herbert Smith Freehills and later worked at Bates Wells.

What does Sophie Pender do now?

As of September 2026, she is Founder and CEO of The 93% Club.

Has Sophie Pender won any awards?

Yes. Her confirmed recognition includes Forbes 30 Under 30, The Diana Award, the Diana Legacy Award and the University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Award.

Is Sophie Pender involved with UNICEF?

Yes. UNICEF UK’s current leadership page lists Pender as a trustee.

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