Benjamín Sánchez Adam

Benjamín Sánchez Adam is a young Chilean leader from Valparaíso, currently in his final year of Civil Industrial Engineering at the Federico Santa María Technical University. He focuses on transforming Latin America’s production systems through value-added development, industrial sustainability, and ocean protection.

Today, Benjamín serves as a member of the European Union’s Youth Sounding Board in Chile (2025–2026), in which he collaborates directly with the EU Delegation to co-design public policy on green transformation, digital development, and sustainable cooperation between the EU and Latin America.

Future50 Leader by the World Economic Forum (2025–2026), joining a global cohort of 50 changemakers embedding foresight into leadership and public policy to diversify Latin America’s production, strengthen local value chains, and advance socio-environmental governance. He also represents Life of Pachamama leading the youth delegation for the COP30 UN Climate Conference and youth-led climate action panels working on agenda development, policy briefs, and democratization strategies from the Global South.

Benjamín is also the United Nations Chile Youth Advisor (2025–2026), nominated by UNESCO to join this high-level consultative group composed of young Chilean leaders working in collaboration with the UN to promote youth participation in sustainable development, human rights, and peace and security. He contributes to integrating youth perspectives into the decision-making processes of the UN Cooperation Framework in Chile.

Benjamín also serves as the Americas Local Hub Ambassador for beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship (2025–2026), where he builds a regional community of Fellows across North and Latin America. He turns bold ideas into collaborative projects with clear metrics, stronger partnerships, and tangible benefits for communities across the Americas.

In 2025, he was named Ocean Ambassador under the Youth for the SDGs program, participating in a 22-day expedition aboard the Peace Boat through Antarctica and Patagonia. There, he worked alongside scientists and Indigenous leaders to advocate for the BBNJ Treaty on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Official UN Youth Delegate for Latin America and the Southern Cone at COP16 in Saudi Arabia, where he engaged in global negotiations on water governance and climate resilience.

In 2024, he co-founded GreenCopper Dynamics, a pioneering project that combines NASA satellite data with real-time mining sensors to prevent toxic water contamination in Chile’s copper industry. Winner of the 2025 Millennium Ocean Prize.

In 2023, Benjamín completed an Erasmus program at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich, specializing in executive leadership, risk management and the European banking sector. There, he led seminars with Allianz-Deutschland, applying data analysis and process optimization to real-world challenges.