When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, one of the first calls Slayton, a former U.S. diplomat and founder of Slayton Capital, received was from a member of the Ukrainian parliament. “He said, ‘We need your help immediately,’ ” the econ major recalls, adding that for him the war is personal. “My wife is part Ukrainian. My father-in-law is Ukrainian, so we were certainly knowledgeable about the country.”
He quickly mobilized. “We pulled together a consortium of about five faith-based nonprofits. We set up a distribution logistics hub outside of Warsaw, Poland, and hired trucks to bring relief supplies into the war zones of eastern and southern Ukraine.” In all, he says, “The consortium has delivered more than 17 million pounds of primarily food supplies and some medical supplies.” It also supported Ukraine’s defenses with nonlethal military supplies such as helmets, body armor, and flashlights.
But creeping donor fatigue took Slayton on an unconventional route. He and a Dartmouth ’15, who uses the pen name Sergei Ivashenko because of security concerns, decided to coauthor a comprehensive coffee table book and donate all proceeds to Ukrainian charities. They produced Portraits of Ukraine: A Nation at War, packed with more than 300 photos of families in conflict zones, fleeing devastation and coping with war, taken by Slayton’s daughter, Alessandra ’13. The book, which contains an introduction by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also explores the country’s history and combats misinformation. “As I’ve said to President Zelensky and others,” Slayton says, “in the absence of truth, lies win.”
The impact has been tangible: “Proceeds from the book have already sent about $30,000 to these great Ukrainian charities,” Slayton says. One provides prosthetic arms and legs for Ukrainian kids. Zelensky praised Portraits as “the best book on Ukraine since the most recent Russian invasion.”
