Helen I. Hwang is a freelance journalist and author. Her works have appeared in People Magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia City Paper, Next American City Magazine, and other publications. She also previously worked for the Peabody Award-winning radio program, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, on National Public Radio. Her writing has covered a wide range of subjects from human trafficking to bath butlers.

She was a fellow at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She has a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University.