Sanchez is fueled with the striving, first-generation immigrant ethos he learned from his parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1968. Sanchez's father was a rodeo worker who came to Wisconsin to work on a farm in Burlington, then took a job as a hot melter at Quality Aluminum in Waukesha. His mother is an environmental services worker at Children's Hospital and expects to retire this fall. Sanchez, the first member of his family born in the U.S., is the third-youngest of his six brothers and two sisters, all but two of whom have college degrees. He has a degree in communications from UW-Milwaukee, but has worked in the construction industry most of his adult life.
Persistence is important, too.
To distinguish yourself in life, you have to be willing to go the extra mile. Being average just isn't good enough in American life. County Supervisor Zielinski, who by all accounts has knocked on more doors in the last 10 years than any other near South Side politician, projects faith in Sanchez. For years, the CBO heads and religious leaders on the near South Side filled a void in Latino leadership by serving as spokespersons for the community on a variety of issues, including crime, education, neighborhood development and job creation. Unlike the heads of many government-funded agencies in the city, South Side agency executives regularly endorse political candidates and are active in elections.