U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
2703 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20593-7031


U.S. Coast Guard Museum
Coast Guard Academy - Waesche Hall
15 Mohegan Ave
New London, CT 06320-8100

Contacting us:  U.S.C.G. Historian's Office

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Ms. Blanca A. Sanchez

Director, Civilian Human Resources, Diversity & Leadership Directorate

U.S. Coast Guard

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Ms. Blanca A. Sanchez is a member of the Senior Executive Service currently serving as the Director of Civilian Human Resources (HR), Diversity, and Leadership at the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Headquarters, Washington DC. Ms. Sanchez is responsible for USCG’s overall direction, management, planning, coordination, and administration of the Coast Guard's Service-wide civilian human resources, diversity, and leadership programs. 

With over 30 years of government expertise in HR and operations, Ms. Sanchez is a result-driven leader who delivers quality acquisition, retention, and motivation solutions that support organizations to leverage the full power of one of their most valuable assets-human resources. She is dedicated to creating robust corporate cultures that promote continuous program improvement and customer satisfaction. This is done by empowering and motivating employees to realize their full potential and bring their utmost effort to the job.

Having started on her career path with the U.S. Postal Service in front-facing customer service and supervisory roles, Ms. Sanchez emphasized the importance of communication, collaboration, and teamwork. She continued her professional development while studying at the University of Texas. There, she earned a bachelor’s in Marketing and later a dual master’s with a concentration in Human Resources Management and Organizational Psychology and Development.

In 2008, Ms. Sanchez put her experience and knowledge into use by becoming the HR Director at one of the most complex areas of the US Postal Service. She served in the Capital District of Washington, DC. Over the next four years, she helped shape the agency’s HR operational programs. From 2013 – 2022, she served as an HR and Operational Director at various government departments. These include the Department of the Navy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services. In these departments, she championed the transformation of HR into a function that proactively contributes to the achievement of key business results. To that end, Ms. Sanchez overhauled the recruitment approach, cultivated partnerships with employee organizations, implemented modernized management and program accountability systems, and aligned HR strategies with overarching strategic goals. This resulted in considerable productivity increases.

Ms. Sanchez has specialized experience in the employee relations, staffing and recruitment, performance management, labor relations, Worker’s Compensation, benefits, and employee development programs. She has earned numerous personal and team awards during her years of civilian federal government service.