Lebawit Lily Girma

Lebawit Lily Girma is an award-winning Ethiopian American travel journalist, editor, and consultant with over 15 years of experience specializing in sustainable tourism. Transitioning from a corporate law career in 2008, she became a prominent voice in Caribbean travel, emphasizing cultural immersion and eco-conscious practices. Her work has been featured in major outlets like Bloomberg, BBC Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, and National Geographic, with a focus on equity, inclusion, and climate resilience in tourism. She authored guidebooks for Moon Travel Guides on Belize and the Dominican Republic and founded See the Caribbean, a platform promoting sustainable travel in the region. Girma has received the Marcia Vickery Wallace Award for travel journalism and a Lowell Thomas Award for her reporting on climate change impacts. Currently, she serves as a travel reporter for Bloomberg Pursuits and an Executive-in-Residence at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, where she advocates for systemic change in the tourism industry. Her multicultural background—born in Ethiopia, raised in Côte d’Ivoire, and educated across three continents—shapes her advocacy for equitable storytelling and sustainable tourism practices.