United States: We Mourn The Loss Of Lauren Brown

Location: United States, New York
Date: October 31, 2019

Photo credit: Quartz’s website

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is saddened at the passing of Lauren Brown, the 37-year-old director of special projects at Quartz. She was suffering from breast cancer since 2014 and died this Tuesday, October 29.

In 2012, the journalist was one of the founding editors at Quartz and was its first deputy ideas editor. She was known to have shaped the editorial approach and culture at Quartz.

Lauren’s colleagues at Quartz remember her for the exceptional work ethic and excitement for her work.

“She would scrunch her neck a bit and lower her voice conspiratorially and say something like “I just heard about the most interesting thing….” or “I just talked to the most amazing writer…”. Her enthusiasm had its own momentum that was joyous in its deep appreciation of the world and the people around us. And it always came with high standards and unfailing assessments — the ideas and people she thought of as great are reliably that,” wrote Kevin J. Delaney, her colleague at Quartz.

Lauren was at the helm of several initiatives, as well as innovative and ambitious journalism projects at her organization including a print book, a podcasting production and events. Having worked as the deputy Ideas editor at Quartz, she commissioned work from international contributors.

Her colleague Kevin recalls that new people at the organization, who would meet Lauren for the first time, would find her intimidating.

“She was focused and intense, and would freely let them know of her high standards. Then, not long after, she would invite them to lunch, or send them a message complimenting their work, or offer her help — and they realized she was on their side the whole time,” he wrote in an obituary.

The staff at Quartz loved her, as most people on the staff would want her as their mentor during the organization’s mentorship program. She was known to give people the space they wanted to share their stories with the world.

As far as digital journalism is concerned, Lauren’s work was said to be ahead of its time. Mitra Kalita, who now works for CNN, was the co-founder of Quartz and hired Lauren to work on the Ideas desk with her. Remembering her time with her colleague, Mitra says, “She was patient and hard-working, and together, we crafted a vision for what modern-day commentary could look like,” she said and added, “Lauren was the OG ally and made sure I was never alone in advocating for diversity in content or hiring or thinking.”

Before joining Quartz, Lauren worked as a contributor’s editor at the Business Insider and managed contributors, as well as syndication partnerships. The entire program was under her supervision at the American financial and business news website.

After receiving her undergraduate degree from Cornell University majoring in English and history, Lauren did her Masters in Digital Media from Columbia School of Journalism. She previously worked for WorldNow, Wiley and contributed as a writer for Movmnt Magazine.

We, at The Coalition For Women In Journalism, extend our condolences to Luaren’s family and friends in this time of grief, and our hearts go out to her colleagues at Quartz. We are also devastated to have lost such a bright and young woman journalist who transformed the idea of digital journalism and led her organization with dignity. Lauren will forever be in our hearts.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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