Leslie Sanchez

Leslie Sanchez
Official Portrait
5th Executive Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
In office May 29, 2001 – June 25, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Sarita E. Brown
Succeeded by	Adam Chavarria
Personal details
Born	1971 Corpus Christi, Texas
Political party	Republican

Leslie Sanchez
Leslie Sanchez at CPAC in February 2010
Born	1971 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Residence	Alexandria, Virginia
Education	BA George Washington University MBA Johns Hopkins University
Occupation	political consultant, political commentator
Website	Leslie Sanchez, Impacto Group, LLC

Leslie Sanchez (born 1971) is an American author, political pundit affiliated with the Republican Party, and founder/CEO of Impacto Group LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based market research and consulting firm. She was ranked one of "Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Latino Republicans" in 2016.

Sanchez was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is a third-generation Mexican-American: her grandfather came to the United States from Mexico in the early 20th century. The family lived comfortably until Sanchez was 15 years old when her parents divorced. Sanchez moved with her mother to a one-bedroom apartment in Sugar Land, a suburb in the Houston metropolitan area where she joined the "working poor," getting a job during high school to support her mother and grandmother.

After high school, Sanchez went to work selling Collier's encyclopedias door to door in order to work her way through college. In four years, she travelled through 1,000 counties in 23 states. Sanchez was an accomplished salesperson, eventually rising through the ranks to field manager and making enough money to provide for her family as well as college. Sanchez attended George Washington University, graduating in 1997 with a journalism degree.

In 2002, Sanchez obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School.

Sanchez's political work began in the 1990s. While a student at GWU, she volunteered in several campaigns, garnering significant grassroots experience. During this time, Sanchez went to work in the office of Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-TX, as a legislative assistant on appropriations. She also worked on border issues and immigration legislation. After college, Sanchez held a number of public relations and marketing positions in the Capitol and worked with the staff of House Speaker Dennis Hastert.