Maria Quiñones-Sánchez (born November 21, 1968) is an American politician and political activist who served as a member of the Philadelphia City Council representing the 7th district.

The district includes the neighborhoods of Castor Gardens, Fairhill, Feltonville, Frankford, Harrowgate, Hunting Park, Juniata, Kensington, Oxford Circle and Wissinoming.

In 1969, at six months old, she moved to Philadelphia, along with her mother and two older brothers, to be closer to her father, who worked as a seasonal farmworker.

She served as President of the school's chapter of the ASPIRA Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing leaders in the Latino community.

During her freshman year, she temporarily left school to give birth to her son and to later take a job with City Councilmember Marian B.

[9] Quiñones-Sánchez specifically focused on writing legislation to address workforce development and create summer jobs in Philadelphia.

[11] Additionally, in the role of Regional Director she led successful efforts to create bilingual ballots in several cities throughout Pennsylvania.

In the overwhelmingly Democratic 7th District, Quiñones-Sánchez, with endorsements from Governor Ed Rendell and The Philadelphia Inquirer, garnered 52% of the vote and defeated incumbent Danny Savage in the primary election.

[13] Quiñones-Sánchez was mostly recently re-elected in 2019 after surviving a close primary challenge from longtime state representative Angel Cruz, also Dougherty ally and Democratic Party official.

[14] In 2019, Quiñones-Sánchez championed a public-private partnership to develop 240 new affordable housing units on abandoned lots in Kensington.

[18] Quiñones-Sánchez long butted heads with Business Manager Johnny Dougherty of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

"[7] In 2013, Quiñones-Sánchez spearheaded legislation to create a land bank in Philadelphia that would allow the municipal government to acquire vacant lots for development.

[21] Quiñones-Sánchez's legislation required that the land bank create a yearly plan to ensure that the development of vacant lots are done equitably.

[21] In 2019, Quiñones-Sánchez introduced legislation that was signed into law by Mayor Kenney, which increased protections for domestic workers including house keepers.