EVEN as Diana Stewart savours her appointment to the Order of Jamaica (OJ) after decades of philanthropic work and business leadership, the veteran businesswoman is already looking ahead to what she calls “one last job” — helping women in crisis, particularly elderly women in need of proper care.

Stewart, who is chair of Stewart’s Automotive Group (SAG), told the Sunday Observer that she was elated and surprised when she learnt that she had been selected for the nation’s fourth-highest honour. She said the recognition affirms that her years of giving back have not gone unnoticed.

“I was elated, very surprised, and I thought that all I had done, people have recognised,” said Stewart.

Her philanthropic deeds have been impactful across several decades. In 2006, she was chair of the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica Fund Raising and Design Committee, and played an instrumental role in the construction of the Grants Pen Model Community Policing and Services Centre, developed in partnership with the US Agency for International Development, the Jamaican Government, and the private sector.

Recognising the need for first class medical facilities, Stewart also led SAG to join a number of companies in becoming donors for the Tony Thwaites Wing expansion at University Hospital of the West Indies.

Her company has also been involved with health campaigns, including the National Council for Drug Abuse/Addiction Alert’s documentary Put God First, and donating the profit from a car raffle towards keeping an AIDS hospice open to help in the fight against the disease.

SAG also plays an active role in promoting job creation and training by being participants in the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme; and providing work experience for student technicians at the Jamaica-German Automotive School as well as the Ministry of Labour’s Steps to Work programme.

Additionally, in 2008 Stewart and her late husband Richard founded the Richard and Diana Stewart Foundation to further their efforts in giving back to Jamaica. The foundation provides numerous academic scholarships for underprivileged youth, including the children of SAG staff members.

In 2012 Stewart and her grandchildren became the first Jamaican family to partner with Food For the Poor (FFP) to build a fully furnished basic school in Manchester, with the Kind Hearts branch of the foundation successfully completing seven basic schools across the island.

These basic schools assist the most vulnerable children, ages three to six years. With FFP’s guidance, the team constructed fully furnished classrooms with: principal’s office, sick bay, sanitation facilities, kitchenette, plumbing, septic tank, water harvesting system, playground, and fencing.

Last Friday, Stewart extended thanks to her children, grandchildren, and other loved ones for their support, noting that she is getting ready to close this chapter of her life. But she told the Sunday Observer that she has unfinished business which she must complete before stepping away.

“I think that it’s great to be recognised, and I’m very proud of Jamaica, myself, and the people who selected me. I thank my daughter, Jacqueline Lechler; Marjorie Borough; my son Duncan Stewart. I’d like to thank them all, and my grandchildren. The only thing I would be taking on now is probably something to do with women, you know, women in crisis, elderly women that are not properly looked after. I just think I have one more job to do, and I’ll do it to the best of my ability,” said Stewart.