About Leslie

Leslie Sanchez is a media entrepreneur, author, and political analyst for CBS News. Recognized as an award-winning expert on trends impacting women and the Hispanic/Latino markets, her insights have delivered winning campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, early stage startups, political candidates, and global non-profits. In 2019, she was also named a Johns Hopkins University Leadership Fellow. 

A trailblazer in media, she predicted two seismic political shifts in her critically-acclaimed books - Los Republicanos and You’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe, which details the geopolitical challenges women face on their road to the White House.

Sanchez joined CBS News as a political analyst in 2015, contributing to the Network's streaming news properties and broadcasts, including Election Nights and coverage of primaries, political debates, and conventions. She provides analysis of the White House, Congress and statewide elections, and developed documentary content for CBS News Streaming on immigrant workers in forestry, Latino Republicans in South Texas, and toxic homes caused by Hurricane Harvey. Sanchez has also produced long-form coverage for CBS News Streaming on elite colleges struggling to integrate low-income students and the global rise of Reggaeton music. 

For her work, Hispanic Business magazine called her one of the nation’s “100 Most Influential Hispanics,” and the Houston Chronicle named her a “Texas Powerbroker” for being among the most influential Texans in Washington. 

Sanchez previously held a number of political and government-related appointments, including director of the White House Initiative on Hispanic Education under former President George W. Bush; legislative aide for a Member on the House Appropriations Committee, and deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee. 

Leslie is a fifth-generation Texan who holds an advanced diploma from the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, a BA from George Washington University, and an MBA from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Sanchez served two terms on the boards of Providence Health Foundation, part of the nation’s largest Catholic nonprofit health system, and Nativity School, a high-performing inner-city school in Los Angeles.