Doualy Xaykaothao

Doualy Xaykaothao is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award winning Hmong American radio journalist and freelance journalist known for her work with NPR.

Early life Xaykaothao was born in Vientiane, Laos. She is of Hmong descent. Under French colonization, her father was selected to go study in France. Once the Vietnam War began, Xaykaothao's mother moved her family to France and, eventually, the United States. Xaykaothao attended Duncanville High School.

Xaykaothao studied radio and television at Ithaca College, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and African American studies from SUNY Empire. She also earned a Masters of Arts with a concentration in Business and Economics from Columbia University. Later, she became a roving correspondent covering breaking news in Asia based in Seoul and Bangkok. the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She was awarded tuition and a $60,000 living stipend to take graduate-level courses.

In 2013, Xaykaothao was recognized as an honoree for the Carnegie Corporation's Great Immigrant Great Americans program.

She also won an Edward R. Murrow award.