Leandra Backner

Leandra Backner, CSN Senior Advisor on Student Transportation Safety, is the mother of Annaliese Backner, an 11-year-old girl who tragically died after being run over by her school bus in Parachute, Colorado. The heartbreaking incident occurred on March 3, 2022, when Annaliese tripped while running to catch the bus and fell under its wheels. The Garfield County Coroner’s Office ruled her death an accident, but CSN has a different perspective on this preventable tragedy. Watch this.

Leandra channeled her pain, loss, and grief into compassion for other parents who have also suffered the devastating loss of a child due to insufficient safety measures, training, and technology. Within weeks of Annaliese’s passing, she was working tirelessly on legislation with CSN, and she has never stopped researching, advising, and assisting in every capacity. As a military veteran, Leandra has always wanted to make a difference, and now she’s found her true calling. Her passion for helping others, especially children, and her commitment to educating and protecting them, shines through in everything she does.

Read: Neil deGrasse Tyson gives mother of 11-year-old (Annaliese) her first smile since she was tragically killed in Colorado

The father of another CSN Senior Advisor ( Detective Daniel Sperry)  reached out to Leandra and Brandon because he and his wife also lost their 11-year-old daughter Makayla to another preventable school bus related tragedy. 

“Daniel, who advises the Child Safety Network, reached out to us to help deal with this pain and loss, we began to have hope that we might turn some of our grief into hard work to make sure that no other parent has to go through what we are experiencing right now and forever.”

“I am proud to say that at the crossroads of my family’s life, we chose hope. We are deeply battle-scarred, but we are here. And that’s all we could have hoped for.” – To book Leandra or any CSN Senior Advisor for media events, please email Volunteers@CSN.org