Laura Lasance is a seasoned professional with close to 15 years of international executive leadership experience in the field of human rights and sustainable development. She works as a senior consultant at Lasance Consultancy, Residencies & Retreats, where her expertise in leadership, change management, and performance management is applied towards strategic organizational and program assignments for non-profits, governments, and social enterprises. Laura is currently building an interdisciplinary space for curious social minds. Her mission is to cultivate a collaborative breeding ground where socially engaged creatives, the arts and humanities can thrive.  

IVLP Impact Award Project: Social Entrepreneurship Impact and Investability Assessment and Training Blueprint for Creatives

The project will optimize the impact and resilience of emerging leaders, ages 25 to 35, in the Dutch creative and cultural sector. In the context of current shifting political priorities and funding cuts in the Netherlands, concerns are omnipresent that individual artists are increasingly challenged to sustain their economic and artistic viability. Laura’s project counters this challenge by securing accessibility to relevant knowledge, skills, and networks for those working in the creative and cultural sector, enabling them to take a social entrepreneurial approach to their work. 

An accessible and pragmatic assessment and training blueprint for creative social entrepreneurs will be developed to enable them to access capital in the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Through this training, participants will gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their business plans, learn how to craft better objectives that increase their social impact, and secure the necessary revenue to realize their creative visions. By nourishing individual agency, flexibility, and adaptability, this project will enable Dutch emerging leaders in the creative and cultural sectors to strategically increase their financial opportunities and enact their social impact projects. 

In October, Laura started the planning phase and is meeting with project partners. In November, she plans to send invitations to experts and participants, build course materials, and work with the project videographer to begin filming content.

“I hope to support emerging creative leaders…by supporting them to take agency, strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and confidence, and [by] improving access to necessary knowledge, skills, and networks.” – Laura Lasance 

IVLP Exchange Experience   

Laura participated in the IVLP Project: Social Entrepreneurs in the United States organized by the U.S. Department of State and Cultural Vistas, in partnership with Global New Orleans, WorldBoston, Global Minnesota, and Northern Nevada International Center. 

Laura’s exchange experience led to the development of her project: “My recent IVLP experience introduced me to innovative social entrepreneurs in [each city we visited]. Social entrepreneurship is the present and future. To tackle the complex and highly intertwined fast moving societal challenges of present and future societies in numerous disciplines, an entrepreneurial mindset is key.” 

U.S. Communities Visited   

Washington, DC; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA; Minneapolis, MN, Reno, NV 

"Through the IVLP award I hope to support emerging creative leaders to strategically increase their financial opportunities, by supporting them to take agency, strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and confidence, and improving access to necessary knowledge, skills, and networks."

Country: The Netherlands 

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