Jeffrey Sánchez (born July 18, 1969) is an American politician who served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 2003 to 2019. He represented the Fifteenth Suffolk district, which is made up of the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

communities Mission Hill,

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...

, and

Roslindale Roslindale is a primarily residential neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bordered by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by an MBTA Commuter Rail line, several MBTA bus lines and the MBTA Orange Line in nearby J ...

, as well as the Precinct 5 of the Town of Brookline. Sanchez has a nephew attending the

Judge Rotenberg Center The Judge Rotenberg Center (founded in 1971 as the Behavior Research Institute) is an institution in Canton, Massachusetts, United States, for people with developmental disabilities, emotional disorders, and autistic-like behaviors. The center ...

–a school condemned by the United Nations for torture of its students–and has defended its use of aversives, and prevented the institution from being shut down.

Early life and education

Sánchez was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and raised in the Boston neighborhood of Mission Hill. He graduated from the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massa ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in Legal Education. Later, he attended the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

where he received a Master in Public Administration in 2011 and was a Rappaport Urban Scholar.

Career

Before running for the House of Representatives, Sánchez served as Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

’s liaison to the Hispanic community for six years. In 2000, Sánchez led Boston’s efforts to count the population for the census. He previously worked in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

as a financial management advisor and investment banker.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Sánchez was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2003. In his second term, he served as Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. In February 2009, he was appointed to the Joint Committee of Public Health by Speaker

Robert DeLeo Robert Emile DeLeo (born February 2, 1966) is an American musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the bassist for rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is part of Delta Deep and he has also played in Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is th ...

and has worked on issues related to affordable housing, healthcare access and quality and youth development initiatives. On July 9, 2013, Sánchez, in response to a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis stemming from a compounding pharmacy in

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

, released legislation reforming state oversight of the pharmaceutical compounding industry of Massachusetts. His legislation has been hailed as a "national model" by several industry experts and academics. On September 4, 2018, he was defeated in the Massachusetts Democratic primary by newcomer

Nika Elugardo Nika C. Elugardo is an American attorney and politician. She served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives representing Boston and Brookline for two terms from 2019 to 2023. Education Elugardo earned her Bachelor of Scien ...

. Sanchez has repeatedly prevented the

from being shut down and defended its right to use aversives on residents. Sanchez's nephew attended the institution

Personal life

Sánchez is a resident of

, where he lives with his wife Brenda and his daughter and son.

References

External links

Legislative homepage

JeffreySánchez.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Jeffrey 1969 births University of Massachusetts Boston alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Massachusetts Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians People from Washington Heights, Manhattan People from Jamaica Plain