Kimberly Steward ‘99 graduated from Webster University’s School of Communications in 2003 with a degree in broadcast journalism. Kimberly is an Academy Award-nominated producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. In 2013, Kimberly formed the media company K Period Media (KPM), with the goal of producing quality content that would launch the careers of the next generation of talent on both sides of the camera.
Steward’s first producing credits include the noted Afro-centric documentaries OPPOSITE FIELD and THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE. In 2016, Steward and KPM produced the critically acclaimed film, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards® making Steward the second black woman, after Oprah Winfrey, to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA went on to win Oscars for both Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan) and Best Actor (Casey Affleck).
Steward is an active and passionate philanthropist. In 2022, she founded the K Period Media Foundation, a fiscally sponsored fund housed at the Entertainment Industry Foundation focused on harnessing the power of art and storytelling to build a more inclusive world. Kimberly proudly serves on the boards of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Sundance Institute, One Community, Ava DuVernay’s Array Alliance, the Fresh Air Fund, as well as on the Ubuntu Council of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP).