Hey there! I'm Kayla Zhu.I'm a freelance data journalist, content writer and communications professional with a specialization in graphic design, data analysis and data visualization.Previously, I've worked as a reporter with the Investigative Journalism Foundation, a data journalist with the Local News Data Hub, a reporter with The Green Line, an intern in the Investigative Unit at CBC, a reporter at J-Source, and a communications assistant at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.I'm passionate about telling stories with data and design.

Hit me up here.

Here's some work I'm proud of.

Half of Airbnbs in major Canadian cities appear to be operating without a licence

For this story, I calculated the approximate licencing rate of Airbnbs across nine major Canadian cities by creating a dataset that includes the number of Airbnb listings and the number of active short-term rental licences in each city. I wrote about the various short-term rental regulations in each city, the impact of the proliferation of the short-term rental industry on the long-term rental market, what's working and what's not working in regards to regulation, and spoke to experts about how platforms and governments can work together together to ensure higher licencing rates.I used Python to clean the listings and licencing data, and then used spreadsheets and QGIS to analyze the data.

For the CVCA, I analyzed Canadian and international venture debt deal data using spreadsheet tools. Charts were created using Flourish. Venture debt data came from CVCA's proprietary deals database as well as Pitchbook data.In this story, I spoke to venture capital leaders to identify the motivations behind the rising trend in venture debt in Canada, summarized key insights from the analysis and visualized venture debt deals with interactive data visualizations.

A Deep Dive into Canada's Burgeoning Venture Debt Market

Here's some of my graphic design work

Graphic design + social media

And here's some more of my writing

Title	Outlet	Date	Topic
A deep dive into the Reddit-Google data-sharing deal	Kosmos	3/20/24	Reddit, Google, IPO, data-sharing, SEO
Looking Into 2024: The Canadian VC and PE Market Outlook	Canadian Venture Capital Association	2/5/24	venture capital, industry association, industry trends
A Deep Dive into Canada's Burgeoning Venture Debt Market	Canadian Venture Capital Association	11/20/23	venture debt, venture capital, industry association
Mining companies ramp up Ontario lobbying after new law gives minister “all the power”	Investigative Journalism Foundation	11/21/23	mining law, lobbying, Ontario government
Muslims in Canadian prisons hit all-time high amid rising concerns about Islamophobia	Investigative Journalism Foundation	11/08/23	overincarceration, correctional services, Islamophobia
‘People can't afford to live here anymore’: Small towns also feeling housing crunch from Airbnb	Investigative Journalism Foundation	9/27/23	Airbnb, short-term rentals, housing crisis, data journalism
Doug Ford only held pricey fundraisers in past year despite claims of low-cost events	Investigative Journalism Foundation	7/26/23	political donations, fundraisers Ontario PC party
Bell, Telus and CN Rail lobbying against anti-scab legislation promised by Liberals	Investigative Journalism Foundation	6/13/23	anti-scab, strikes, unions, lobbying
Coca-Cola and the NHL fighting bill that would ban junk food ads for children	Investigative Journalism Foundation	5/30/23	food and beverage, lobbying
Private health clinics lobbying Alberta government for more money ahead of May election	Investigative Journalism Foundation	5/09/23	Alberta politics, health care, lobbying
Half of Airbnbs in major Canadian cities appear to be operating without a licence	Investigative Journalism Foundation	4/18/23	Airbnb, data journalism, short-term rental
Opposition parties challenge Ford for promoting his private healthcare donors	Investigative Journalism Foundation	3/28/23	investigative, political donations, data journalism, ontario health care
Doug Ford’s donors keep benefitting from his private healthcare push	Investigative Journalism Foundation	3/21/23	investigative, political donations, data journalism, ontario health care
Donations from affluent urban ridings grease the wheels of politics, new analysis suggests	Investigative Journalism Foundation	1/19/23	investigative, political donations, data journalism
Contributed data analysis and research for Toronto Star/Investigative Journalism Bureau's investigation "Suspended"	Investigative Journalism Bureau/Toronto Star	6/20/22	investigative, data journalism
Toronto in Two Pandemics	The Green Line	4/01/22	COVID-19, Toronto, health policy
"Not a number in someone's view count": How Toronto's cozy Twitch streamers create calming spaces to curb pandemic stress	The Green Line	2/15/22	Twitch, streamers, online communities
Reduced TTC service and existing delays heighten students’ commuting concerns around wait times, overcrowding	On The Record	12/10/21	TTC, data journalism, commuting
Ryerson reviewing proposals for new academic building at Gerrard and Mutual	On The Record	11/25/21	campus news, new building, RFP
Warmer winters, hotter summers: National and local stories	Local News Data Hub	11/10/21	data journalism, climate projections, climate change
From green buildings to greenhouse gas emissions: breaking down the state of sustainability at Ryerson	On the Record	10/25/21	GHG emissions, divestment, institutional sustainability
Apartment building conditions in Toronto Centre fall short	On the Record	10/20/21	data analysis, apartment conditions
Naomi Klein says meaningful climate action must challenge capitalism	On the Record	9/28/21	climate action, capitalism
The Post-Pandemic Office: How businesses around the world are envisioning the new workplace	Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship	9/16/21	future of work, COVID-19, work from home
How students and recent alumni are creating their own journalism project	J-Source	5/27/21	student journalism, journalism innovation
Overstory Media Group plans dozens of digital community news outlets in Canada	J-Source	5/03/21	community news, journalism innovation
The evolution of mental health reporting standards	J-Source	3/27/21	mental health, reporting guidelines
Indiegraf expands to the U.S with next news challenge cohort	J-Source	3/18/21	journalism innovation
Corus revenue down 10% in first quarter of fiscal 2021, expects recovery during year	J-Source	1/14/21	Corus, Q1 financial report
How I found silver linings in the chaos of 2020	Cold Tea Collective	12/31/20	year in review, 2020
Press Forward aims to give independent media a seat at the table	J-Source	12/18/20	independent media
Drug policy and addiction media kit gives newsrooms a resource for better coverage of drug use	J-Source	12/02/20	drug use, addiction
Three trans and non-binary creatives to follow instead of J.K Rowling	The Eyeopener	11/29/20	trans creatives, transphobia
Black Press employees question keeping workers in offices as second wave hits B.C	J-Source	11/19/20	work from home, COVID-19
Gendered perspectives are key to creating safe transit environments for women	The Eyeopener	11/19/20	gender, transit safety
Recent arrests of journalists covering land disputes accelerate concerns around police attempts to define, obstruct journalism	J-Source	11/13/20	journalism, Indigenous land rights
Ketchup and Soya Sauce is an intimate exploration of interracial relationships in Canada	Cold Tea Collective	11/06/20	filmmaker profile, mixed race couples
Ryerson policy on Wi-Fi and technical issues during exams remains unclear for students	The Eyeopener	10/31/20	news story, Wi-Fi issues
Quibi collapse takes down programs at Canadian partner Bell Media	J-Source	10/29/20	layoffs, journalism
APTN partners with 5 new organizations and networks to produce global indigenous reporting project	J-Source	10/26/20	Indigenous journalism
From posts to protests: How social media makes social justice accessible	The Eyeopener	10/21/20	feature, online activism
A Thousand Cuts: A documentary on the jeopardization of free press in the Philippines	Cold Tea Collective	10/19/20	filmmaker profile, Filipino journalism
The price is wrong on gendered work	The Eyeopener	10/08/20	feature, unpaid gendered work
Bringing the immigrant experience to screen with Warrior's Chen Tang	Cold Tea Collective	09/30/20	actor profile
Aaron Chan on navigating Vancouver as a young, gay Asian creative	Cold Tea Collective	08/19/20	author profile
We need to drop the model minority myth and respectability politics	Cold Tea Collective	07/23/20	opinion piece
Ryerson researchers are contributing to global COVID-19 research	The Eyeopener	04/13/20	COVID-19 research
Lack of women and non-binary people in computer science remains a systemic and social issue	The Eyeopener	04/02/20	women in STEM
Building Community and Fixing Toaster Ovens	Tdot	03/30/20	feature, local business
Ryerson in talks with education firm Navitas on new international student program	The Eyeopener	03/24/20	international student program
Highlighting Ryerson research: Six faculty members and their accomplishments	The Eyeopener	03/11/20	faculty research
Ryerson's new law professors champion accessibility, diversity and technology	The Eyeopener	02/04/20	Ryerson law school
The Art of the Resale	The Eyeopener	12/03/19	feature, thrifting
Ryerson Ultimate makes historic appearance at national finals	The Eyeopener	11/05/19	sports, ultimate frisbee
Waves (2019): Not Your Regular Coming of Age Story	The Unaffiliated Press	10/04/19	film review
Protesters demand federal government provide accessible health care for uninsured migrants	The Ryersonian	02/17/19	news, health care protest
Explaining Toronto’s Vegan Renaissance	The Unaffiliated Press	01/18/19	feature, vegan food
Sunday Morning Mahjong	Chinatown Today	02/07/18	personal essay

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Graphic design + social media

Investigative Journalism Foundation Instagram feed

I managed the Investigative Journalism Foundation's Instagram presence from December 2022 to November 2023, designing graphics to promote the IJF's articles, databases and raise awareness of the organization's mission.

Infographics for Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship

I designed a variety of illustrations, data visualizations and infographics for the BII+E social media posts, blog posts and reports using Adobe Illustrator.

Social media videos for Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship

This videos were created using recordings from a panel discussion hosted by Brookfield. I clipped highlights from the discussion, and added captions in our brand colours and the logo using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Monthly newsletter design and copywriting for the Design Fabrication Zone

Using Adobe Illustrator and Mailchimp, I wrote copy and designed graphics for the Design Fabrication Zone at Toronto Metropolitan University's monthly newsletter, promoting its members and raising awareness of the Zone's activities.

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