Award-winning writer, international best-selling author, and photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström is the prospective expedition leader for the Pathfinder Prize finalist team, “In Tété’s Footsteps: A Cultural Expedition in Greenland.”

Åkerström has dispatched from 70-plus countries for various publications, and her writing has been translated into 18 languages. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, Slate, The New York Times, Travel Channel, Adventure.com Magazine, AFAR, Lonely Planet, and many more. She has collaborated with high-profile commercial brands from Mercedes-Benz and Dove to Intrepid Travel and the National Geographic Channel. She is a Hasselblad Heroine.

A sought-after keynote speaker and visual storyteller, Åkerström has spoken at dozens of conferences and trade shows around the world. She has spoken at the Royal Geographical Society and taught at National Geographic Traveler’s Masterclasses. She delivered an inspiring TEDx talk on “The Power of Asking Why Not?” in Stockholm, Sweden.

Åkerström is the founder of Geotraveler Media — a multimedia and travel consulting agency providing a spectrum of visual storytelling and travel media-related services. She has been recognized with multiple awards and nominations for her work, including a Pushcart Prize nomination, and was honored with a MIPAD 100 (Most Influential People of African Descent) Award within media and culture in 2018.