Meet the Prana Team

My name is Bea Spadacini and I grew up in Milan, Italy. When I turned 18, I left my native country to go and study in the United States. I am a communicator and a journalist by training, and I am drawn to stories that elevate the voices of people who have been historically marginalized or whose most fundamental rights have been denied, including the right to accessible and affordable healthcare. Throughout my career I have been fortunate to travel around the world and to meet people doing important social justice and environmental work. Their determination and resilience have inspired my work as a storyteller and have fueled my commitment to building bridges of understanding among people and to advocate for a more fair, compassionate, and inclusive world.

For six years I lived and worked in Nairobi, Kenya, which is also where my daughter Zawadi was born. In East Africa I made amazing friends and I learned a great deal about the rich history of this continent and the devastating impact of colonialism and capitalism. I returned to the US to give a more stable life to my daughter. I opted for less glamorous “office jobs,” and slowed down my travel considerably. It was the COVID-19 pandemic that eventually brought me full circle back to my native country of Italy. Seeing images of empty streets and ambulances in Milan, the city where I was born in, during the early days of the pandemic was heartbreaking. I vowed to do everything I could to return home. Two years later, when travel restrictions eased, I flew to Italy with my daughter to meet a relative who happened to be taking a short vacation in Abruzzo. That was my first time in this region, and it was love at first sight. The rest is history, and the birth of Prana Tours!