For Brown University student Xuanjie (Coco) Huang ‘26, journalism is more than just storytelling; it’s about elevating marginalized perspectives and driving community-centered change. Through her work at Brown and the Swearer Center, Huang merges humanitarian action, journalism and international studies to highlight voices often unheard in global crises.
A junior concentrating in International and Public Affairs, Huang first joined the Swearer Center through the Social Innovation Fellowship (SIF), a two-year program offering students the skills needed to drive social innovation and make transformative changes in organizations.
“[SIF] provided me with mentorship and resources to explore community-driven problem-solving. This experience shaped my approach to social impact work, particularly in humanitarian action, human rights and journalism. Currently, I serve as a Student Advisory Committee (SAC) member, where I work to make Swearer Center resources more accessible to students and help foster stronger connections between students and community engagement opportunities,” Huang said.
Through her fellowship, Huang is now leading the Humanitarian Reporting Lab (HRL), a nonprofit initiative examining how journalism impacts humanitarian crises globally. "This project explores how journalism and media coverage affect public perception, mobilize aid and amplify the voices of those directly impacted by crises," Huang said.
As part of this initiative, Huang produces Frontlines and Headlines, a podcast that features interviews with journalists, humanitarians and advocates to explore media ethics in crisis settings.
“I recently interviewed a reporter from The New Humanitarian, a global nonprofit newsroom that covers humanitarian crises with depth,” Huang shared. “Our conversation explored the ethical dilemmas journalists face when reporting on disasters and the challenges of centering the experiences of affected communities. I also had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Omar Bah, the founder of the Refugee Dream Center in Rhode Island, a former persecuted journalist, who shared powerful insights about reporting under dictatorship and perspectives of displaced population.”
During her first year as a Social Innovation Fellow, Huang interned at the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission, where she supported investigations into human rights allegations, conducted interviews and assisted in drafting legal recommendations.
Currently, Huang is a research intern with Physicians for Human Rights. Describing the role, Huang shares, “I conduct comprehensive open-source research to identify and document human rights violations, focusing particularly on attacks against healthcare in conflict areas, with an emphasis on regions like Gaza and Syria. Specifically, I analyze reproductive violence in conflict zones and contribute to interview data analysis and developing relevant reports used for legal action. This analysis also extends to examining how these violations are represented across diverse media narratives, helping to drive efforts aimed at safeguarding healthcare in conflict zones.”
Huang credits several courses at Brown for deeply influencing her perspective. Professor Bill Allen’s courses on Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship introduced her to the potential of storytelling and grassroots advocacy.
“These classes invited guest speakers who were founders of nonprofits, and hearing their stories of grassroots change and community-driven impact encouraged me to pursue this path myself. Their journeys reinforced my belief that storytelling and advocacy can drive real change. Professor Allen and the guest speakers proved to me that idealism and optimism are not naive. They are necessary. This belief has gradually become the backbone of my work.”
Professor Stephen Kinzer’s History of American Intervention course also profoundly impacted her, challenging her to critically assess the complex relationships between humanitarian discourse, colonialism and media narratives.
“I came to recognize the complex ways these narratives can simultaneously advocate for justice while reinforcing existing power imbalances. This critical awakening catalyzed my commitment to ‘Decolonize Journalism.’ I prioritize creating platforms where communities can articulate their own experiences and challenges, rather than having their stories filtered, simplified or distorted through external lenses.”
This semester, Huang is studying abroad in Jordan through the School for International Training's (SIT) Humanitarian Action and Refugee Health program.
"Learning about refugee resettlement in Rhode Island sparked my determination to understand displacement challenges at their most acute intersection—in one of the world's foremost refugee-hosting nations. In Jordan, I am gaining first-hand insight into the complexities of refugee aid, health and policy, while also examining how global narratives of humanitarian crises are shaped.”
Listen to Coco’s podcast, “Frontlines and Headlines: Media in Humanitarian Settings” on Spotify or on her substack.
If you’re interested in leading a similar project, learn more about applying to Swearer’s Social Innovation Fellowship here.