Tributes have been paid to Hanna Yusuf, a “wonderful” and “widely admired” BBC journalist praised for breaking boundaries with her work, who died last week at the age of 27.

Her family released a statement on Monday saying they were “deeply saddened and heartbroken” by the death of the “vibrant professional who became a bridge between the media and the community”.

Yusuf was a reporter for BBC News, where she broke stories about poor working conditions at Costa Coffee and Shamima Begum’s grooming by Islamic State. She had contributed to the Guardian, the Pool and the Independent before joining the broadcaster.

In 2017, she completed a masters degree in journalism from City University as a recipient of the Guardian’s Scott Trust bursary. She also volunteered as a media and student adviser for the non-profit Joseph Interfaith Foundation.

Fran Unsworth, the BBC director of news, said Yusuf’s death was “terrible news that has left us all deeply saddened”, adding: “Hanna Yusuf was a talented young journalist who was widely admired across the BBC and our utmost sympathies go to her family and many friends. Hanna will be much missed.”

Katharine Viner, Guardian News and Media’s editor-in-chief, said: “Hanna won the Guardian’s Scott Trust student bursary in 2016 and was a wonderful journalist. She was incredibly intelligent, adaptable and full of ideas, as well as being a lovely person.”

The executive director of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, Mehri Niknam, said that Yusuf’s talents stood out when she first met her as an undergraduate. “I was impressed by her warmth, integrity, and sense of duty,” she said. “She was a young woman who was going to go far and achieve a great deal.”

Praising her “vision, dedication, tenacity and commitment,” she added: “Hanna was a highly intelligent young woman who believed passionately and deeply in a pluralistic and just society.”

After the news of her death broke on social media, colleagues paid tribute to Yusuf’s qualities as a journalist and friend.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet said: “You left too soon a world where you shone such a bright light.” BBC World Service journalist Sophia Smith Galer wrote: “The world has lost a bright young talent and we have lost a fierce and compassionate friend.”

Another friend and colleague at the World Service, Megha Mohan, said Yusuf “surrounded herself with women as talented as her and elevated them. Our industry has lost so so much”.

The statement from her family said: “Hanna’s passing was sudden and unexpected and has come as a shock to us all. We kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this tragic time as we come to terms with our loss. We are grateful to everyone that has reached out to us with their kindness, love, compassion and support.

“Hanna was a dedicated young vibrant professional who became a bridge between the media and the community, helping break boundaries in providing a voice and representation.

“Many will know Hanna for her incredible contributions to journalism and for her work at the BBC. While we mourn her loss, we hope that Hanna’s legacy will serve as an inspiration and beacon to her fellow colleagues and to her community and her meaningful memory and the people she has touched for many years lives on.”

Yusuf was born in Somalia and lived in the Netherlands and Manchester before settling in London. She spoke six languages.