Peridot. It takes a long hard look to pinpoint what color Kimberley Stewart’s eyes are. They are neither green nor yellow, but instead a rare blend of the two colors only found in the semiprecious birth stone of August.

“If you looked at my family, you’d think I was adopted,” Stewart said jokingly.

She thinks, perhaps, her features came from her paternal great grandmother, a Sioux American Indian. Her unique features have won this 23-year-old many beauty pageants.

She was Miss African-American homecoming queen at OSU in 2002, and has competed twice for the title of Miss Ohio.

She credits her poised presence to her mother, who took her to her first ballet class at the age of three and entered her into her first beauty pageant at the age of six.

“Children will be children,” said Stewart’s mother, Betty L. Stewart. “Kim got to be at the point where her father and I decided it was time to get her involved in some things.”

Stewart has been involved in more than “some things” ever since.

The Cincinnati native came to Ohio State as a dance performance and education major. For three years, she spilled sweat perfecting dance steps and was eventually rewarded for her talents. The Academy of Dance in Cincinnati, where she was a former student, paid her full tuition at OSU.

However, after more than two decades of dancing, Stewart realized there was another passion in her that needed attention.

Her passion for social work transcended her love for dance, so Stewart changed her career path in that direction.

“I had always taken social work classes as a back-up,” she said.

Stewart’s interest in social work specifically focuses on adoption and foster care. Her mother was a mentor at an orphanage and influenced Stewart to come with her to help mentor children.

“My mother made me volunteer. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t go out and play but now I appreciate all that,” Stewart said.

Stewart continued working with children when her parents opened a day care center. She acted as a substitute teacher, and still works at the center during her breaks and holidays.

“She was very involved at the day care center,” said her father, Raymond Stewart. “We had interracial kids there who did not have both parents. She paid more attention to them, and showed sympathy for those kids.”

Stewart has made it her goal to ensure that children receive the love, attention and adoration they deserve from their families. Her voice becomes more solemn when she speaks about finding families for children in foster care.

Stewart has taken a firm stand on transracial placement, which involves placing foster children with permanent families of another race.

“I would rather see a child grow up in a family than a foster home,” Stewart said.

She advocates for transracial placement at the epicenter of opposition. The National Association of Black Social Workers is against the issue. Stewart attended its annual conference in Jacksonville, Fla. in April as a first-time observer, and returned to Columbus as the national secretary of the organization.

“I didn’t think she’d run for office her very first year. I was even more surprised when she won,” said Traci Lewis, Mwanafunzi advisor.

Stewart joined as part of her personal crusade to make a difference.

“I joined because I didn’t agree with their stand,” Stewart said.

She is also involved in the local chapter of NABSW.

“If she is as committed nationally as she is locally, she’ll do an excellent job,” Lewis said.

Stewart’s accomplishments do not stop there. She recently received the Thelma Goodman Scholarship, an award presented to a student with an interest in adoption and foster care.

“It bothers me more than anything when I see a baby without socks,” she said.

Stewart may never put socks on the feet of her own child. She was diagnosed last August with Leiomyoma, a uterine disease. The genetic disease has created non-cancerous tumors inside of Stewart.

“I knew I had it at 19, but doctors said I was too young. I had it for four years before I was diagnosed,” Stewart said.

Stewart has had three procedures in which doctors have removed the tumors. Each removal attempt leaves scar tissue in Stewart’s uterus, making it less and less likely for her to have children.

“I want a lot of kids so I’d probably adopt a newborn, a three-year-old, and a seven-year-old,” she said.

She also said she would raise her children just like her parents raised her.

Stewart is working with children at the Ohio Department of Health, and is enrolled as a full-time student. She will begin a training program with Franklin County Children’s Services in the fall, and one day hopes to implement a program for children who are placed with transracial families.