Snapchat Co-founder Wades Into LA Ashes to Help Rebuild

The line of groups formed to guide the rebuilding of fire-burned neighborhoods in Los Angeles County now wraps around blocks of homes destroyed in January’s wildfires.

Now Evan Spiegel, co-founder of Snap, maker of Snapchat, and Miguel Santana, CEO of the California Community Foundation, and others have launched the Department of Angels, the latest fire recovery group, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Its mission: to listen to how people in Altadena and Pacific Palisades want to rebuild, then advance that vision along with local governments and private groups responding to last month’s disasters.

“What’s the famous saying? It’s amazing how much can get done if you don’t care who gets the credit,” Spiegel, who said the fires had displaced more than 150 employees of Snap, told reporters at a news conference.

The list of groups hoping to help rebuild is long, with civic leaders jockeying for position in a “scramble for power” to raise L.A. from the ashes, the New York Times reported.

That includes Mayor Karen Bass, who appointed developer Steve Soboroff as the city’s chief recovery officer.

There’s also Gov. Gavin Newsom, who created LA Rises, a public-private initiative led by Mark Walter, chairman of the L.A. Dodgers, Casey Wasserman, organizer of the 2028 Olympic Games, and businessman Magic Johnson, a former L.A. Lakers point guard.

Then there’s Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, who promised to form a Leadership Council to get private sector leaders to help the region rebuild.

Plus there’s billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who founded Steadfast LA, a group to advance rebuilding.

And President Donald Trump said he’d name a federal rebuilding commission.

Department of Angels is backed by $10 million in seed money from the California Community Foundation, Snap, Spiegel and Snapchat co-founder Bobby Murphy, according to the Times.

Snap, Spiegel and Murphy have already donated $5 million for immediate aid.

Spiegel funded a group of four universities, including Harvard and UCLA, to study the short- and long-term impacts of the fires on air and soil quality, and human health.

The Department of Angels founders said they plan to meet with people in Altadena, Pasadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu over the course of years.

They aim to answer questions, cut through red tape and convey the needs of locals to insurance companies and recovery agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

— Dana Bartholomew