Nominations open for Ivory Prize 2025 (United States)

The Prize is designed to award innovators for their efforts and provide material support to advance their projects. The search committee looks for solutions that combine elements of finance, policy, and design/construction.

Innovators include small and large scale companies, non-profits, or government entities. Anyone may nominate an organization making an impact in housing affordability, and self nominations are encouraged.

Focus Areas

• They believe that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for housing affordability. Each year, they award three Ivory Prize winners – one from each of their three areas of focus. The housing industry faces a wide range of challenges, but together, these organizations comprise a portfolio of solutions as diverse and varied as the problems they are intended to solve.
• Their Ivory Prize areas of focus are as follows:
  • Finance
    • The last great innovation in housing finance was the modern 30-year mortgage which emerged in 1957. New tools are needed as the next generation of homeowners faces a unique set of constraints. These constraints range from higher personal/student debt and a growing number of careers with regular job changes to a longer timeline for family formation, and rapid urbanization. The Ivory Prize recognizes that new financial contracts must be negotiated to provide this generation the same opportunity to build wealth through home-ownership.
  • Construction & Design
    • Innovative construction and design play a critical role in bringing down the cost of housing and improving building performance. The Ivory Prize award will focus on approaches for both new construction and rehabilitation. Participants may advocate the new materials or practices which provide improved efficiency in home building or use. Areas of interest include material production and use sustainability, income generating opportunities such as power generation or mixed-use spaces, and the potential of emerging smart devices and use of data.
  • Policy & Regulatory Reform
    • From local building codes and zoning laws to federal materials and appliance standards, the housing space is subject to more regulatory oversight and intervention than virtually any other industry, placing a unique burden on innovators in the housing space. The Ivory Prize recognizes teams which demonstrate competency in using policy to their advantage with a particular focus on supporting new, scalable, approaches to improve housing policy.

Benefits

• The Ivory Prize awards $300,000 in unrestricted grants to winners in each of its three areas of focus. In addition to the monetary award, Ivory Prize winners also benefit from significant recognition, publicity, and operational support from the Ivory Innovations team.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Ivory Prize aims to recognize solutions to the unique challenges of the United States housing market. Nominated organizations must be based in the U.S.
• All organizations that demonstrate the Ivory Prize criteria of innovation, scalability, and impact on housing affordability are eligible.
• They welcome both self-nominations and nominations from third parties. Once submitted, all nominations are evaluated equally, regardless of their source.

Evaluation Process

• In addition to recognizing organizations working on solutions in the areas of focus, the Ivory Prize also considers the following areas during the evaluation process.
  • Racial Inequality
    • Building operations and the construction industry account for almost 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions. To improve environmental sustainability and outcomes, many innovators are working on new ideas, methods, materials, and approaches. The Ivory Prize seeks to recognize solutions across all areas of focus that address this issue.
  • Environmental Sustainability
    • Building operations and the construction industry account for almost 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions. To improve environmental sustainability and outcomes, many innovators are working on new ideas, methods, materials, and approaches. The Ivory Prize seeks to recognize solutions across all areas of focus that address this issue.

For more information, visit Ivory Innovations.