In 2019, five years after Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas, sparking the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian-born Oleksandr Zavalov ’26 founded the Futurevia Foundation — a nonprofit organization that provides aid to Ukraine. Since its founding, Futurevia has raised $1 million through donations to support Ukrainians’ educational, medical and financial needs and has been supported by more than 50 volunteers in Ukraine, Zavalov said. The Dartmouth spoke with Zavalov about fundraising efforts and his experience as Futurevia’s CEO.
Tell me about yourself and your foundation.
OZ: I was born in Kyiv, and when I was in first grade, my family moved to Pennsylvania. After the war started, I decided to step in to help out, and I started Futurevia in 2019. The foundation is an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit and has helped save countless lives of children through funding surgeries. Right now, we are expanding to have a comprehensive rehabilitation program for veterans and injured civilians, and we are really working on helping Ukraine as much as we can in these challenging times.
What inspired you to found Futurevia?
OZ: I was inspired by a nonprofit called Break Time, which was founded by two Harvard students. They helped feed thousands of people experiencing food insecurity in the Boston area. That really inspired me. It showed me that young people can really make a difference. After the war started, I decided to make a difference. My family’s connections with some parliament members and the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy really accelerated the social impact.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far?
OZ: A lot of people don’t yet quite understand the full scope of the conflict in Ukraine. There have been so many bad things that Russians are doing. They’re trying to break down democracy in many different countries, especially in Ukraine. Also, what people don’t often know is that the war started earlier — in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and then the invasion of Donbas. Then, in February of 2022, it transitioned to a full-scale war.
How does Futurevia fundraise? How do you allocate the relief?
OZ: I’ve spoken at many Rotary Clubs — service clubs — around the country because I’m able to travel a lot. I’ve also been talking to alumni and reaching out to different foundations online. I went to the Ukrainian World Congress event in Philadelphia on Oct. 11. I have been talking to many large sponsors concerning distributing aid in Ukraine. We are fortunate to have connections with Zelenskyy’s office and a lot of the parliament members — especially one parliament member, Oleksiy Goncharenko, who we hosted here at Dartmouth last year. Goncharenko has volunteer hubs in 26 regions of Ukraine, and they are distributing tons of humanitarian aid. They’re acting as learning centers so people of all ages can come and learn for free. They have guest lecturers, and they also feed people for free, so they are a major support network for people who want to partner with and help Ukraine.
What is the next major project on which Futurevia is currently working?
OZ: Right now, we are working on a comprehensive rehabilitation center in Kyiv. As I mentioned earlier, more than 400,000 people are injured already — including veterans, civilians, children and elderly people. Ukraine doesn’t have the technologies for prostheses. They are starting to react to the situation, but still, only several thousand people are getting prostheses. There’s a huge number of people waiting, and there’s simply not enough resources for them. On top of that, the technology is very expensive. One prosthesis costs about $70,000, and many people need several prostheses for running and walking. One solution is rehabilitation elsewhere in Europe or the United States, but that’s also expensive, factoring in travel and logistical costs, so we are working on building a center in Kyiv. We need $100 million to do that.
How do you plan to raise $100 million?
OZ: We are reaching out to many foundations. We are trying to attract major donors such as MacKenzie Scott, who gives out hundreds of millions of dollars to different nonprofits annually. We also talked with the CEO of the Warren Buffett Foundation. The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, which is located in New Hampshire, donated $72 million to organizations in the Upper Valley. We are mobilizing to gain support from these groups.
In September, the Associated Press published an article about your foundation and its efforts to support Ukraine’s development. How did you react to that publication?
OZ: It made me feel proud and recognized for some of the work we have been doing. One of the largest challenges we are working to overcome is getting more publicity so that we can solicit more donations and more international support for our causes to help Ukraine.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
