S2E3: Impact Storytelling & Travel Journalism with Lebawit “Lily" Girma

In episode three, join Jaclyn and Kelly as they sit down with Lebawit ‘Lily’ Girma to discuss Lily’s career in travel journalism and how her experiences have led her to focus on impact storytelling, spotlighting travel as a force for good.

p.s. – despite the name of the podcast, remember that you are always welcome here. 

For more information, follow along our journey:

⁠⁠https://www.ecomadic.com/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.yourenotwelcomeherepodcast.com/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ecomadic/⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@ecomadictravel⁠⁠

Speaker Bio:

Lebawit “Lily" Girma is an Ethiopian American freelance travel journalist with more than 10 years’ experience in sustainable tourism reporting and storytelling for consumer and trade outlets. Lily currently contributes full-time to Bloomberg Pursuits, the luxury lifestyle arm of Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. Prior to that, she was editor-at-large and global tourism reporter at Skift, where she covered the post-pandemic evolution and future of tourism with a focus on equity and sustainability. 

Lily’s writing and photography have been published over the years in BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller UK, CNN,, Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, and Sierra Magazine, among others. 

She appears regularly in the media and at events as a speaker or moderator on global tourism topics — including CNN with Richard Quest, Bloomberg CityLab, Skift Global Forum, ITB Berlin, WTM Africa, and Women in Travel Summit. 

A former corporate attorney, Lily ditched her Washington DC law office for the road in 2008 to follow her passion for storytelling and social impact through travel. She currently splits her time between Maryland and the Dominican Republic, where she has family on both ends.  

Episode Resources:

To learn more about Lily’s work, visit her sustainable tourism news and storytelling website at https://tourismlens.com 

Listen to the first episodes of her newly launched Tourism Lens Podcast.

Read and follow her reported travel stories for Bloomberg at https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AV_B1amvDss/lebawit-lily-girma 

Follow Lily on your favorite social media network!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lebawit

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tourismlens

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunandstilettos/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tourismlens_

Travel Guidebooks: Moon Belize and Moon Dominican Republic