Directors
Jesse Lee (Santi)
Founder and Co-Director
Tomas Sanchez
Co-Director
Jesse Lee was born and raised in Ames, Iowa, played college basketball at Yale University and earned his Masters in the science of education from the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2016 Jesse has lived and worked in Santiago, Chile. As a teacher, he has ten years of experience in high school literature and student leadership. Similarly, Jesse has nearly a decade of experience in outdoor education with students of all ages. Specifically, he designed and launched pocoApoco’s first summer camp in 2023. Jesse Lee has his first responders license, is certified in CPR and has his mountaineering certificate from the Chilean Special Forces. His love for the outdoors has brought him to Futaleufu, Patagonia, while his love for teaching is what has inspired him to begin building pocoApoco in order to share his passion with others. Jesse Lee’s two life missions are to inspire the next generation and to help protect Patagonia.
Tomas was raised in the United States until he was 9 years old. Alumni of Nido de Aguilas, studied Commercial Engineering in Universidad Andres Bello and did a masters in International Management in Marseille, France. Has done multiple excursions in multiple national parks in Chile and Ecuador. Tomas is first responder certified and CPR certified and mountaineering certified through the Chilean special forces. Tomas also has in field experience including a 10 day excursion covering more than 80km in the Andes mountains. Tomas, in a few words describes himself as an adventurer and natural leader. Tomas also has his license in sailing with experience in knots, aficionado of bushcraft and survival. Overall, Tomas is in charge of logistics and safety during the travels, as well as operations on base camp.
Our Incredible Team
