Former presidential advisor Leslie Sanchez

Author, political analyst and former presidential advisor Leslie Sanchez will give a talk about her work in Washington at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 18, in Kresge Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The talk is free and open to the public. It was posponed from February due to weather.

Currently a columnist and commentator on CNN, Sanchez was named one of the nation's "100 Most Influential Hispanics," by "Hispanic Business" magazine. She has written two books, "Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other" (2007), and "You've Come a Long Way, Maybe: Sarah, Michelle, Hillary, and the Shaping of the New American Woman" (2009). She is also the founder and CEO of Impacto Group LLC, a communications and market research firm that specializes in defining social and economic trends affecting women and the emerging U.S. Hispanic community.

Sanchez will discuss women in politics and on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration, and life as a political pundit.

In 2001 Sanchez was appointed by President George W. Bush as executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Before that she was a spokesman and deputy press secretary at the Republican National Committee, where she was one of the principal architects of the Republicans' first-ever multi-million dollar advertising campaign aimed at Hispanic voters. She also worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Rep Henry Bonilla of Texas, responsible for advising the Congressman on immigration and border security issues as well as appropriations for the Departments of Justice, State, Treasury and Transportation.

A veteran of numerous local, state and national campaigns, Sanchez has written for the "Wall Street Journal," "The New York Times," "The Washington Post" and "U.S. News & World Report." She appears on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Univision, Telemundo and leading programs, including NBC's "Nightly News" and "Today Show," the CBS "Early Show," and "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS. Additionally, her commentary is featured in the PBS documentary "Latinos '08," which examines ethnic politics in the most recent presidential election.

Sanchez is a graduate of George Washington University and earned a master's in business administration from Johns Hopkins University.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and 48 countries. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.