Symone Sanders is an American political strategist, commentator, author, and television host who has an estimated net worth of $2 million. Sanders first became nationally known as the national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, a role that made her one of the most visible young operatives in Democratic politics. She later became a CNN political commentator, a senior advisor on Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, and then Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris. After leaving the White House, she moved into cable news, joining MSNBC, where she hosted "SYMONE" before becoming a co-host of "The Weekend" and later "The Weeknight."

Sanders' income has come from a mix of campaign work, government service, television, consulting, book royalties, and paid speaking. Her public financial disclosures from the beginning of the Biden administration showed a modest but rising financial profile, with book royalties, university speeches, CNN income, and consulting fees forming the bulk of her pre-White House earnings.

Symone Sanders was born and raised in North Omaha, Nebraska. She grew up in a family with deep ties to public service, journalism, and local civic life. Her father, Daniel Sanders, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, while her mother, Terri Sanders, was associated with the Omaha Star and the Great Plains Black History Museum.

Sanders attended Creighton University, where she earned a degree in business administration. Before becoming a national political figure, she worked on juvenile justice reform and served as national chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice Emerging Leaders Committee. That early policy work helped shape her public identity as a young strategist focused on criminal justice, social justice, and youth advocacy.

Sanders' breakthrough came in 2015 when she joined Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign as national press secretary. At just 25, she became one of the youngest presidential campaign press secretaries in modern political history. Her sharp television appearances and direct communication style quickly made her one of the most recognizable staffers of the 2016 cycle.

After leaving the Sanders campaign, she became a political commentator for CNN, where she built a second career as an on-air analyst. She later joined Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign as a senior advisor, serving as one of the campaign's prominent public defenders during both the Democratic primary and the general election.

When Biden won the presidency, Sanders was named Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris. In that position, she became the first Black woman to serve as a spokesperson for a vice president. She left the administration at the end of 2021 after roughly a year in the White House.

Sanders' move from politics to television was a natural extension of her campaign-era visibility. After her CNN work and White House tenure, she joined MSNBC in 2022 as a host and anchor. Her original MSNBC program, "SYMONE," gave her a platform that mixed political analysis, interviews, and cultural commentary.

She later became part of MSNBC's weekend morning lineup as a co-host of "The Weekend" alongside Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele. The trio then expanded into weekday prime time with "The Weeknight," giving Sanders a prominent role in the network's political coverage.

In 2020, Sanders published "No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America." The book combined memoir, political commentary, and advice for young people who wanted to participate in civic life. According to her public financial disclosure, the book generated between $100,001 and $1 million in royalty income, making it one of the most important early financial assets of her career.

Sanders has also earned money from paid speeches and university appearances. Her disclosures listed honoraria including $17,067 from Penn State, $14,617 from the University of Florida, $12,000 from American University, $10,947 from Washington & Lee University, and $9,111 from Ohio State University.

When Sanders entered the Biden-Harris administration, she filed a public financial disclosure that provided an unusually detailed look at her finances. Watchdog-style estimates based on those filings placed her net worth at roughly $101,000 to $267,000 at the time. That figure reflected her assets and liabilities before her post-White House television career had fully developed.

Her 2021 disclosure listed $137,500 in salary from BFPCC, Inc., the Biden campaign entity, along with income from CNN, her consulting company 360 Group LLC, speaking engagements through Keppler Speakers, and royalties from HarperCollins. She also reported consulting work connected to Gucci America Inc., where she served as a senior strategist on cultural diversity and inclusion initiatives.

The same filing showed ordinary liabilities, including $50,001 to $100,000 in Department of Education student loan debt and a $10,001 to $15,000 revolving credit card balance with Navy Federal Credit Union.

In 2022, Symone Sanders married Shawn Townsend, a Washington, D.C. public official who previously served as the city's "night mayor" and director of the Mayor's Office of Nightlife and Culture. Professionally, she uses the name Symone Sanders Townsend, though she remains widely known publicly as Symone Sanders.

She has also been involved in academic and civic institutions, including fellowships at Harvard's Institute of Politics, USC's Center for the Political Future, and Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.

In 2023, Symone and Shawn paid $799,000 for a home in Washington D.C.'s Fort Lincoln neighborhood.