The Business Behind the Journey: The Women Driving Strategy and Growth for the Fleet
Behind every expedition is a set of decisions that shape how and where exploration happens. From financial stewardship to revenue strategy and data-driven insight, these choices help bring each voyage to life while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the experiences that National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions offers.
For Lindblad Expeditions team members Meggan French, Elizabeth Tat and Femke Galle, that work is both analytical and personal—grounded in a shared belief that travel can inspire, connect and transform. Together, they help guide the business behind exploration, ensuring each journey is not only possible, but deeply meaningful.
Meggan French
Revenue Management Officer
Meggan French, Revenue Management Officer and her family.
With more than 20 years in the cruise industry, Meggan French brings deep expertise to her role in revenue management—helping shape how National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions voyages are positioned and brought to market. Her work focuses on commercial strategy: understanding demand and ensuring that each expedition reaches the right audience. But at its core, her passion is simple.
“I fundamentally believe that travel has the power to transform people and the world we live in for the better,” she says. “And bringing life-changing experiences to people is so much better than selling toothpaste or toilet paper.”
Based in Seattle, French balances her career with a busy family life, cheering on her two daughters at basketball games and drawing constant inspiration from her family.
Throughout her career, mentors played a defining role in shaping her path. “They pushed me, believed in me and gave me opportunities I couldn’t have imagined on my own,” she says—experiences that ultimately led her to Lindblad Expeditions.
Her excitement for what’s ahead is rooted in the company’s consistency of purpose. “What I know will always remain true is the commitment to responsible exploration and creating transformative travel experiences,” she says.
And like many in the expedition world, she also has her sights set on what’s next for her own explorations: Antarctica and, one day, Egypt—both places she has been curious about since childhood. It’s that sense of wonder—of always having something new to discover—that continues to inspire her work.
Femke Galle
Vice President, Revenue Management and Analytics
Femke Galle, Vice President, Revenue Management and Analytics, sailing aboard Sea Cloud, with her children and exploring Pompeii, Italy.
For Femke Galle, travel has never just been a profession—it’s been a way of life. Born in Brussels and raised for much of her childhood in Italy, she grew up with a deep sense of curiosity about the world. “My parents were translators, and not a single meal went by without one of them getting up to take a dictionary from the shelf,” she recalls. That early immersion in language and cultural nuance shaped both her personal life and her professional career.
Today, based in New York City with her twin children, Galle brings that global perspective to both her work and her life at home. As Vice President of Revenue Management and Analytics, she sits at the center of how National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions plans and delivers its voyages. Her work combines data, market insight and strategic thinking to help determine where the company travels, how voyages are positioned and how to balance demand across a diverse and evolving portfolio of destinations.
Her path to this role was shaped by a long-standing love of travel and discovery. Her career began in London at British Airways, where access to standby travel meant she was constantly on the move. “I absolutely loved my job,” she says. “I kept a beady eye on unsold seats on Friday afternoons so I could gallivant around Europe for the weekend.” That period opened the door to the wider world—trips to Kenya, Indonesia, Thailand and the United States—and sparked a deeper appreciation for wildlife, natural beauty and the exhilaration of being somewhere entirely new.
Even after a period working in consulting, she found herself drawn back to travel, following Lindblad Expeditions closely until the opportunity arose to join. What struck her most from the beginning was the authenticity of the company. Walking into the office for her interview, she recalls feeling as though she had stepped into “the basecamp of an authentic explorer,” surrounded by maps, photographs and artifacts that reflected a genuine commitment to discovery.
That sense of authenticity continues to define her work—and her experiences in the field. In Baja California, she remembers a moment when “our panga was surrounded by gigantic whales… I rarely use the word awesome, but that was awesome.” In the Amazon, visiting a riverside community supported by the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund was equally powerful, offering a firsthand view of how exploration and conservation can work hand in hand.
For Galle, the numbers and models that shape revenue strategy are simply a means to an end. What matters most is the outcome: creating opportunities for people to experience the world in ways that are both exhilarating and meaningful.
“The exhilaration of discovery… that’s what I feel when I travel with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions,” she says. “And we will never run out of places that can move us and amaze us.”
Elizabeth Tat
Vice President, Controller
Vice President, Controller Elizabeth Tat in Nice, France, with her family and kayaking with her wife.
Controller Elizabeth Tat plays a central role in supporting the financial strength that underpins every National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions voyage. From overseeing financial reporting to supporting strategic planning, her work helps ensure the company can continue to grow responsibly while delivering meaningful travel experiences around the world.
But for Tat, finance is not just about structure—it’s about enabling impact. “I was drawn to Lindblad because of its unique mission of connecting exploration, education and conservation,” she says. “It’s inspiring to be part of a company that helps people experience the world while also fostering a deeper understanding of it.”
That connection between business and purpose is what motivates her day to day. By helping guide the financial health of the organization, she supports the ability to invest in new destinations, partnerships and experiences that bring guests closer to wild and remote places.
Based in Brooklyn with her wife and young son, Tat brings a deeply personal perspective to that work. Becoming a parent has reshaped how she thinks about the future, reinforcing the importance of preserving the places and cultures that future generations will inherit.
“Travel has always been one of the most powerful ways for me to learn and gain perspective,” she says. “Experiencing different landscapes, cultures and ways of life reminds me how big and diverse our world is.” While she has yet to join her first expedition, Antarctica is at the top of her list—a place that represents, for her, “the ultimate expression of exploration and adventure.”
