Sophie is listed as a guest speaker for one of our discussions but she does not work at Cumberland Lodge. We cannot share her contact details and it is not always possible for us to pass on contact enquiries to past speakers.
Sophie Pender grew up in single-parent household on a council estate in North London and balanced two jobs in McDonalds and John Lewis alongside her schoolwork after losing her father to his battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. She now works as a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills – one of the world’s leading international law firms. Sophie has been committed to improving social mobility for almost 10 years and during this time has appeared in Downing Street, the House of Commons and the House of Lords to speak on behalf of the Mayor's Fund for London.
After becoming the first student ever in her school to achieve straight A*s at A level, Sophie became the first in her family to attend university, and left for the University of Bristol to study English. In her second year, at age 19, Sophie founded The 93% Club, a society dedicated to improving the experience of state school students at university. Since then, The 93% Club has become a nationwide charity (The 93% Foundation) and is the largest network of state-educated students in the UK, operating in just under 50 universities and working alongside the UK’s top employers to promote access to careers education for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. You can read and hear more about the work of The 93% Club in the Economist documentary, "Why it's harder to earn more than your parents", the BBC, ITV, LBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph.