Few people have had a better front-row seat to politics in the last 20 years than Sandra Sobieraj Westfall. She was a six-year White House correspondent for the Associated Press whose tenure bookended President Clinton’s impeachment scandal and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2003 she moved to People Magazine and specialized in high-profile interviews and exclusive “gets” with everyone from presidents and first ladies to would-be presidents and headline makers.
Westfall will speak at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business Alliance event Wednesday, April 19, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cherry Valley Country Club. Tickets are $55, $40 for members. For more information visit www.princetonchamber.org, call 609-924-1776, or e-mail lorraine@princetonchamber.org.
Westfall describes herself as a journalist, mom, wife, and eye-roller. She is the two-time recipient of the Merriman-Smith Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure.
Westfall’s stories range from being in Michelle and Barack Obama’s Chicago kitchen to Sarah Palin’s Wasilla living room for Eskimo bingo. As a reporter, she was alone in a room when the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke and traveled with Hillary Clinton.
A native of Rochester, New York, Westfall received a bachelor’s degree in politics, with a certificate in Latin American studies, from Princeton University, and a master’s in journalism from Stanford University.
“Sandra is as down to earth as anyone I have ever met, but wow does she have a story to tell. Anyone who attended the 2014 Women’s Leadership Conference can tell you that after she told her story, you could hear a pin drop in the room. The sold out crowd was awe inspired by her wit, charm and the amazing story of the path that her career has taken her. We are thrilled that she has returned,” said Lorraine Holcombe, who leads the WIBA group.
