Hi there, I’m Tina Xu. Here’s me “on paper.”
Multimedia storyteller striving to illuminate the two-way street between people and policy. I have worked for media and NGOs in the US, Thailand, and China, and have won awards for my writing, films, photos and design. Background in sustainable development, community-based activism, and economic research.
I have learned that the world hurts. I have learned that violence is not always a crime of passion. Laws starve and maim the body; bureaucracies can enact genocides. This I learned from history, from listening intently to the stories of family, friends, elders, children and strangers, and what I've seen with my own eyes. I have learned that telling stories is a way to transform despair into righteous anger, chaos into collective action, and individuals into movements. May our hearts break so that they never close to the world again.
Give me a shout: tinayingxu@gmail.com
EDUCATION
Note: Sure, this is my formal education, but if you’d like to read about the real experiences that shaped me, see here.
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
Political Science
2013-2017 | GPA: 3.7
OXFORD UNIVERSITY
(Study abroad) Politics, Philosophy, Economics
2015 | GPA: 3.7
MIT (Cross-registration)
Anthropology, History
2016-2017 | GPA: 3.7
BEIJING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE UNIVERSITY
(Age 17-18 gap year) 2013 Chinese literature and business
EXPERIENCE
/ The World of Chinese
Editor
August 2019 - August 2021
Beijing, China
English-language print and digital magazine on Chinese society, culture and language based in Beijing, China
Wrote for magazine for two years before being invited to apply as editor
Reported feature articles and photo essays including grassroots environmental efforts, schools for migrant children, buses connecting American Chinatowns; fiction reviews
A piece on Chinese railroad workers on the American transcontinental railroad was a top 10 most-read piece of 2019
* * *
/ Kenan Asia
Multimedia Storyteller
July 2018 - July 2019
Bangkok, Thailand
Southeast Asian NGO working on sustainable human development
Traveled to project sites across Thailand to write pieces on public health, education and small business, ranging from 1,000 - 1,800 words with photos
Produced, shot and edited videos about community members and leaders, i.e. a community caring for bedridden elderly
A video featuring youth science innovators received 33K organic views, the highest of any Kenan video in three years
Convinced the NGO to invest in a storytelling portal; conceptualized and designed empower.kenan-asia.org
* * *
/ NESN
Broadcast Associate
Sept 2017 - Mar 2018
Boston, USA
Regional TV station in northeast USA; ranked by Forbes as the 9th most valuable sports brand in the world
Assisted in writing, shooting and editing content for broadcast in documentary shows of original productions department
4-minute feature on the Chinese martial art of wushu and 60-second ad for the Red Sox aired on TV to millions
Won job (and US $20,000 prize) through NESN’s student producer film competition
* * *
/ Blouin Media
Contributing Writer
Oct 2017 - January 2019
Remote
Global art media organization based in London, UK
Write print articles on contemporary Asian art for Modern Painters and Art+Auction magazines, digital pieces for Blouinartinfo.com
Interviewed high-profile artists, curators and art historians, including Cao Fei, Duan Jianyu, Wong Ping, Peal Lam, Doryun Chong, Naman Ahuja
Chosen by editor to fly out to Singapore to report on southeast Asian art fair, wrote 2,000 words about the event
* * *
/ National Bureau of Economic Research
Research Assistant
2015 - 2016
Cambridge, USA
Largest economics research organization in the US
Assisted Dr. Sari Pekkala Kerr with labor economics research on immigrant and women’s labor, using STATA data analysis software
Co-authored (third author) a 70-paged literature review on the psychology of entrepreneurship with a Harvard Business School and Wellesley-MIT professor, published in Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, cited by 102
* * *
/ I Have A Future Project
Videographer
2017 - 2018
Dorchester, USA
Youth in communities of color lobbying the Massachusetts State House for juvenile justice reform, youth employment funding, preventing gun violence, and housing reform.
Collaboratively scripted and shot advocacy videos with youth organizers to communicate the impact of mass incarceration and lack of funding for youth jobs on the community
Shot annual Youth Justice Rally at the MA State House in 2017 and 2018
* * *
/ Amnesty International
Communications Intern
Sept - Dec 2012
San Francisco, USA
UI-UX designer
April-May 2014
A movement of 7 million people in 150 countries campaigning to end human rights abuses
Directly assisted Field Organizers with outreach in 13 states; compiled content for the Amnesty West regional newsletter sent to several thousand members
Referred by boss at former internship to take on the contract project of visualizing online Activist Resource Community, a platform to learn about human rights issues (case files by region and topic), share stories and tactics (toolkits, handbooks), and collaborate (online directory and forums); worked via phone with Memberships Director to produce wireframe over two months
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS& GRANTS
ONE WORLD MEDIA - Longlist, Refugee Reporting Award - For piece on epidemic of PTSD among asylum seeking children (2023)
IJ4EU, JOURNALISMFUND - Grant - $30,000 for cross-border investigation of unmarked graves of migrants in Europe
EUROPEAN PRESS PRIZE
Laureate, Innovation Award - For design on story from northern Syria, a story from Sri Lanka (2021, 2022)
SOCIETY OF PUBLISHERS IN ASIA - Excellence in Environmental Reporting Award - For piece on China’s rural waste crisis (2021)
PRINCETON-IN-ASIA
Fellowship - A year-long placement as videographer for an Asian NGO administered by Princeton (2018)
NESN NEXT PRODUCER
First place - $20,000 prize from NESN annual student film competition for 4-minute feature and 60-second Red Sox ad (2017)
BOSTON ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Audience Award - Short film about a young Chinese American woman navigating queerness and family (2018)
PAMELA DANIELS FELLOWSHIP
Grant - $3,500 to shoot a documentary following a child refugee’s journey across Europe; $10,500 including other grants (2017)
DEPARTMENT WRITING PRIZES
First place - Best essays of the year in both Political Science and English departments at Wellesley College (feminist epistemology; narrative nonfic) (2017)
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
First place - $1,500 prize for essay on human rights in youth essay competition (2012)