May 2024 graduate Zachary Nusimow’s time at SUNY Oswego included a lot of involvement as a student as well as taking part in international charity work.

Graduating with a combined master of business administration and bachelor’s in broadcasting, Nusimow’s journey included a visit to the Peru mountains a few months ago to engage in mission work with his family.

This initiative is part of his family’s campaign, Angels of the Andes, where they help children receive needed supplies. Nusimow said that fundraising for the project began a few years ago.

“Angels of the Andes is a family initiative that my mother, Emily Nusimow, and my grandfather Daniel Angeles, created about 10 years ago,” Nusimow said.

Throughout Peru, Nusimow visited six different schools scattered throughout the mountains.

Nusimow’s campaign has been successful in serving up to 350 children throughout the region. Nusimow said they received Christmas gifts and other essential supplies, including clothing and toiletries.

“They started to fundraise money for children in Peru for them to be able to have gifts and basic necessities like toothbrushes, backpacks, clothes, socks, shoes, food and things for the holidays,” Nusimow said.

“The overall goal is just to get as much outreach as possible to reach as many kids,” Nusimow said.

In that effort, Nusimow has found plenty of support from friends and family.

“We work with a church that I attend in my hometown in Hopewell, Junction Valley, and my grandfather’s church in the city helped out and gave generous donations, and many people of our friends and family gave generous donations to be able to afford the gifts and things we buy for them,” Nusimow said.

With many people being provided with lasting supplies, they each receive personalized materials. The project aims to continue providing supplies to children and those in need, along with increasing the amount of supplies that they provide on a yearly basis.

The reward for Nusimow is a feeling as much as anything.

“Honestly, for me personally, it’s just the smile of the families and how grateful they really are, and that’s what I feel,” Nusimow said. “It keeps us going year in and year out [to] want to keep doing this.”

Nusimow talked about how this campaign affects him personally.

“It’s just really nice to be able to give back to people who don’t have these types of things and necessities, basic things that we might take for granted here,” Nusimow said. “They’re very grateful, and I’m just happy to be able to provide that for them.”

Nusimow said that he has personal friends who have been interested in this journey as well.

The campaign is continuous and shows more signs of expanding services over the next few years, he said.

Ongoing involvement

The work ethic reflected his time with Oswego, where Nusimow said he made sure that he utilized his time.

“There was no moment where I said ‘no’ to an opportunity,” Nusimow said. “I made sure that my time was spent well, that I networked, [and] that I was able to do cool things. I got a few awards and met a lot of great people.”

The recent graduate has been a part of multiple organizations across campus, which helped to expand his presence in campus affairs and activities.

Nusimow saw success in WTOP-10 TV, the campus student-run TV station “as a producer, and host of my own television series called Out On Our Own Oswego, or better known as Ox Five,” he recalled. “And that was a great success. As for our season finale, I was able to acquire my first interview with Al Roker, a very well-known alumni.”

Nusimow said he also earned “great experience” at the student-run radio station, WNYO 88.9 FM as its business and sales representative.

Nusimow has won several awards, including one from the Broadcast Education Association.

“One was an award of excellence in the film and video narrative category issued by the Broadcast Education Association’s Student creative competition, which was a video titled ‘I Gave Al Roker An Al Roker Sub In Front Of The Al Roker Studio,’” Nusimow said. “That was the second interaction I was able to have with Mr. Roker.”

Nusimow also worked for Wonzones Calzones, a popular calzone restaurant that gets many nighttime orders. Nusimow said that he was marketing his title while working for Wonzones.

“My official title that [owner Jason Shi] gave me was marketing and communications manager,” Nusimow said. “I helped with new merchandise releases and doing photography and videography and managing the Instagram account. I created it and towards the end, [I] co-ran it with Jason.”

Nusimow said that working at Wonzones Calzones blossomed into a very meaningful experience.

“Doing the creative or just doing the marketing and communications with [Jason], I was able to meet a lot of great people that way,” Nusimow said. “[With] people who just attended, people who just went there to eat, and [people that] like the stuff we’re doing on Instagram, I was able to really [get] a jump on my own.”

On campus, he also interned for the Office of Communications and Marketing, while enjoying interacting with the community in his off-campus job with Oswego Cinema 7.

Nusimow continues to further his connections and expand his portfolio as he continues his career – and encourages others to take chances and try new things as well.

– Written by Ryan Ravenell of the Class of 2024