Capital rules
What should we own—and what can we afford?
Compare ownership, leasing, and shared access. Set total exposure, grantmaking liquidity, and an operator-failure plan.
Laura SeguraBig Ideas
Snap Foundation · A leadership vision · September 2026
Infrastructure
for Imagination:Funding the Conditions for Youth to Create and Build Creative Careers
Personal agency. Strong community organizations. Reliable access to opportunity.
Every young person deserves the freedom to imagine—and the support to build a creative life.
01 / Strengths – Clear Plan Framework
The plan sees the person
and the ecosystem.
Its greatest potential is continuity across a young person’s creative life.
The freedom to discover
Curiosity, belonging, and a place to make things. Creative exploration is an outcome in its own right.
Explore, develop, connect, participate—and return at any stage.
Youth pathways
Protect exploration before career readiness.
Ecosystem strength
Invest in the institutions that sustain access.
Creative economy stewardship
Meaningfully convene and contribute insights.
The organizing outcome: sustained creative participation.
01 / Strengths – Los Angeles’s Resilience
What endures.
What is exposed.
More durability, less exposure
Durable assets to strengthen
Creative transferable skills.
Community trust.
Skills like design, storytelling, and collaboration can travel across sectors and therefore will endure. Local relationships take years to build and trust is everything.
In action: Fund transferable training programs and reliable institutions.Entry routes under pressure
Production volatility.
Fragile early careers.
Film and TV activity is exposed. Junior tasks may change with AI. Cost pressures make continued participation harder.
In action: Pilot projects buy us time to learn in a rapidly changing landscape; connect training to paid demand.$2,328/ month
2026 one-bedroom fair-market rent, including utilities, in LA–Long Beach–Glendale.NLIHC · Out of Reach 2026 ↗
−12.7%
year-over-year change in permitted location shoot days, Q2 2026.FilmLA, July 2026 ↗
02 / Gaps · Where the plan needs more clarity
A strong direction.
Three unresolved topics.
Portfolio evolution
Where do we deepen support, and who is losing access?
Clarify selection and transition rules, currently not stated but in progress. To preserve community value and trust above all, this must be clear and transparent.
Delivery of Plan
Who owns the work—and the costs?
Clarify our Foundation’s versus other partners’ responsibilities in building and connecting pathways and the ecosystem. Organizational health and costs need to be mapped to the plan.
03 / Opportunities · Ideas & solutions
Four ideas.
One connected approach.
Support youth, strengthen the ecosystem, and contribute where Snap can add the most value.
| Idea / solution | Gap to address | How I would explore it |
|---|---|---|
01Shared Creative ServicesBeyond the Check | Grantees need expertise, tools, and operational support alongside cash. | Build a grant portfolio combining flexible funding with shared services, technology, training, and access. Let partners choose the resources that strengthen delivery. |
02Youth FellowshipLA Creative Equity Trust · Working name | Cost and fragmented access can interrupt a young person’s creative path. | Fund youth-defined learning and making, mentoring, and participation costs—in and outside formal education. Let support follow the person as their path changes. |
03Weave AI into the PlanAcross all three pillars | AI is transforming creative value and how youth, grantees, and employers work. | Youth Pathways: AI education, training, and creative skills. Grantee Ecosystem: stronger operations and shared expertise. Creative Economy Stewardship: research and advocacy. Weave it in. Stay flexible as AI advances. |
04Innovate PhilanthropyA modern LA institution | Where can Snap add distinctive value to the philanthropic landscape? | Map who supports LA’s creative ecosystem, where, and through which forms of philanthropy. Build a lean, technology-enabled team with clear accountability and strong results. Enhance what other institutions do well; let strategic contribution define Snap’s relevance. |
The test: Does this help underrepresented young people enter, sustain, or advance in creative careers—or improve the conditions that make that possible?
04 / Execution · A four-year sequence
Earn the right
to grow.
Scale when access, quality, cost, and delivery capacity support the next commitment.
Establish & test
Confirm obligations and partner needs. Map the philanthropic landscape. Cost the team and initial pilots; weave AI into delivery.
Expand what works
Review pilot evidence. Secure paid work and cofunding. Extend effective support.
Make selective commitments
Deepen effective shared support and youth access. Adapt to changes in AI, employers, and community needs.
Account for the difference
Assess continued creativity, stronger partners, and sustainable paid participation. Share successes and failures.
Ambition sets the direction. Evidence determines the next step.
04 / The first 90 days
Listen first.
Then build.
Turn what we learn into costed decisions, clear authority, and an achievable launch sequence.
Days · Understand
What is true today?
Listen to youth and partners. Review finances, commitments, school pilots, workload, and existing landscape research.
Days · Design
What will it take?
Cost portfolio transitions, shared services, fellowship, AI integration, and the operating team.
Days · Decide
What can we commit?
Approve investment limits, capital policy, decision rights, delivery owners, and timing.
What I need from the Board
Strategic choices. Funded capacity. Employer and cofunding relationships. Permission to change course.
What a healthy team delivers
A short priority list, clear ownership, monthly delivery reviews, and quarterly learning conversations.
The measure of success
More young people
can keep creating.
With the freedom to explore.
The support to continue.
And the opportunity to build a sustainable creative life.
Creative agencyStronger institutionsReliable opportunity
For our conversation
Where is the Board ready to be bold—and what commitments will make that ambition possible?
Ideas I Would Explore
Laura’s original discussion document on youth pathways, stronger institutions, and a connected creative ecosystem.
Public research is linked beside the relevant claims. Photo by Antoni Shkraba / Pexels ↗