Symone Sanders

Symone Sanders Townsend is an author and seasoned political strategist and co-host of MSNBC’s "The Weekend."

Sanders Townsend rose to prominence in 2016 as the national press secretary for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ then-presidential campaign. At 25, she became the youngest presidential press secretary on record and was named to Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of 16 young Americans shaping the 2016 election. At 29, she published her first book, "No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America" and served as a senior advisor for President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. At 31, Sanders Townsend was appointed as a senior member of the Biden-Harris administration serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson to Vice President Kamala Harris.

A communicator with a passion for problem solving and social justice, Sanders Townsend served as the national chair of the Coalition of Juvenile Justice Emerging Leaders Committee and a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice before joining Senator Sanders’s campaign. There, she worked to raise the profile of young voices in the fight for juvenile justice reform and brought millennial perspectives to policy conversations. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris administration, Sanders Townsend was principal of the 360 Group where she helped clients find sound solutions to tough political and social problems.

Sanders Townsend is a former political commentator for CNN and resident fellow of both Harvard's Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School and the University of Southern California's Center for the Political Future. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from American University. In 2024, she received Black Enterprise’s Luminary Award at the Women of Power Summit.