The 2020 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability, presented by Ivory Innovations, is now accepting applications.
Now in its second year, the Ivory Prize awards a total of $200,000 to winners that have developed ambitious, feasible and scalable solutions to housing affordability within three focus areas: construction and design; finance; and public policy and regulatory reform.
In 2019, 126 nominations and applications representing organizations in 28 states were judged by an advisory board representing some of the top minds in housing from across the United States. Ivory Innovations is an outgrowth of Ivory Homes' commitment to community and making a significant impact on housing affordability, both in Utah and across the United States.
"Housing availability and affordability will be one of the defining issues of our time," said Clark Ivory, CEO of the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation and Ivory Homes, which has been Utah’s largest home builder for more than 30 years. "The Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability rewards those who are thinking outside of the box about how to make housing more affordable and abundant."
2019 winners included:
- Factory_OS (Construction and Design) in San Francisco
- The Alley Flat Initiative (Policy and Regulatory Reform) in Austin
- Landed (Finance Co-Winner) in San Francisco
- Home Partners of America (Finance Co-Winner) in Chicago
"From innovative financing models, groundbreaking construction technology, and visionary policy and regulatory reform, our 2019 inaugural class showcased what’s possible in housing," Ivory added. "I can’t wait to see how our 2020 winners will take solving the housing affordability puzzle to the next level."
The Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability's ultimate goal is to shed light on the most innovative solutions to our nation’s housing affordability crisis. In November 2019, finalists for the inaugural Ivory Prize will share their work and lessons learned at an event Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
"Broad housing affordability will not happen if it's only one person asking for a small fix. It must come from 21st-century solutions that benefit entire communities," said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, and Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability Advisory Board member. "The Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability is a cutting-edge approach to finding innovative, scalable solutions to addressing the pressing challenge of housing affordability."
Additionally, earlier this year, the Ivory Prize was featured by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in the inaugural
Innovative Housing Showcase, co-hosted by NAHB and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
"Housing affordability is a key component of family affordability and the American market is in desperate need of housing innovations in the marketplace and every level of policy to relieve this mounting pressure," said Lee. "The Ivory Prize is an example of Utah’s private sector encouraging activities with public benefit, and I look forward to learning about the innovative efforts they uncover this year."
Applications will be accepted until Dec. 15. Finalists and winners will be announced in early 2020. For more information about the Ivory Prize and Ivory Innovations, visit
ivory-innovations.org.
