Jeneé Osterheldt

Jeneé Osterheldt is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. Her work centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. She is also the creator of A Beautiful Resistance, a multimedia platform and docuseries for The Boston Globe that centers Black voices and celebrates Black Joy.

The work is both joy and justice. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. Other times it means arts, joy, and space-making. It always means Black lives matter.

Beyond writing and film, her work comes to life on stage and screen as she moderates conversations with thought leaders and culture makers like Ghetto Gastro, Taraji P. Henson, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. 

In 2023, she was named deputy managing editor of talent, culture, and development, making her the second Black woman to ever grace the masthead. More recently, the City of Boston honored her work with a day in its honor: As of 2025 going forward, Nov. 21 is A Beautiful Resistance Day in our city.

She joined the Globe in 2018. She was the 2023 chair of the Pulitzer jury for criticism, 2023 ONA winner for Commentary, 2022 YW Boston Women Achiever, a 2022 Murrow Award winner, a 2021 News Leader Association winner, and a 2021 Most Influential Bostonian. She opened for ABC/Hulu's "Soul of a Nation" three times. She is a 2024 New England Regional Emmy Award winner.

A native of Alexandria, Va. and a proud graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice.