Ivory Innovations has announced the new $200,000 Ivory Prize in Housing Affordability, an award that will honor innovations in design, financing, and policy that seek to increase access in housing affordability. Supported by the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation and the Sorenson Impact Center at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, the program recognizes the most ambitious, adoptable, and innovative solutions to address housing affordability and generate awareness and new ideas to address this national issue.

“Housing affordability is among the most pressing challenges facing our nation, and we need new ideas to tackle it,” says Clark Ivory, CEO of Salt Lake City-based Ivory Homes. “This country is full of entrepreneurs, advocates and problem solvers who have found impactful ideas that we can highlight and support.”

To find nominees and evaluate ideas for this new award, Ivory Innovations is working with an advisory board of housing experts and partners, including representatives from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley and the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. The emphasis for the prize will be on projects that provide a pathway to homeownership; however, those that address reducing rents also will be considered.

The prize is designed to award innovators for their efforts and provide material support to allow them to advance their projects and is open to private-sector organizations, nonprofits and public-private partnerships. Proposals must make an impact through construction and design (including rehabilitation projects), public policy and regulation reform and finance, where some of the greatest barriers to affordability, such as qualifying for a mortgage or meeting down payment or monthly payment requirements are impacted.

Nominations for the prize and self-nominations are welcome. Preliminary nominations are encouraged by Nov. 5, with a final deadline of Dec. 15. Finalists will be announced at the Utah Winter Innovation Summit Feb. 6–8 and awardees will be announced in March 2019. Click here for more information or to start the nomination process.