Ivory Innovations

Ivory Innovations is an operating foundation — and critically, a competition-based funder — housed within the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business and co-founded in 2018 by Clark and Abby Ivory, whose family built Ivory Homes into Utah's largest residential homebuilder. This origin shapes everything: the funder bridges academic rigor, real-estate industry pragmatism, and mission-driven philanthropy in ways that sharply distinguish it from traditional foundations.

The primary mechanism for external support is the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability, an annual national competition with a nomination-based entry model. Unlike open RFP grantmaking, Ivory Innovations does not accept unsolicited proposals outside a defined annual window. Applicants self-nominate or are nominated by third parties at ivoryprize.org between September and late October each year. The process moves through a competitive funnel: from the full applicant pool, 25 finalists are selected (announced in early spring), and from those, category winners are chosen and announced in May or June.

What Ivory Innovations favors is concrete: solutions that are simultaneously innovative, feasible, and scalable. Their three evaluation categories — Construction & Design, Finance, and Policy & Regulatory Reform — reflect a theory of change premised on attacking affordability from multiple angles. The 2026 finalists ranged from autonomous construction robotics (Okibo) to employer-sponsored homeownership benefit platforms (Oro Impact) to a bipartisan state land-use reform law (Montana Land Use Planning Act), illustrating the breadth of acceptable solution types.

For first-time applicants, the critical insight is that Ivory Innovations is not looking for early-stage ideas. Their stated preference is for solutions past prototyping and piloting, with demonstrated traction and a clear path to scale. The Fieldworks program — a separate initiative that embeds vetted solutions in active Ivory Homes development sites — explicitly requires solutions '100% ready for commercial deployment' on projects of 6 to 100 units.

Beyond prize money, Ivory Innovations wraps support around all Top 25 finalists: pro bono consulting, connections to funders in their national network, and student intern placements funded by the foundation itself. Since 2019, 172 organizations have entered the Ivory portfolio. Relationship progression typically runs: nomination to Top 25 recognition to potential prize winner to ongoing portfolio engagement. The Ivory Homes real estate ecosystem and University of Utah academic infrastructure provide network access that can rival the value of the $100,000 prize.

The financial trajectory of Ivory Innovations reveals a rapidly scaling organization. Total assets grew from $12.0 million (FY2020) to $30.1 million (FY2021) to $49.7 million (FY2022) to $60.2 million (FY2023) — a five-fold increase in three years. Revenue has ranged from $12.5 million (FY2020) to $20.5 million (FY2022), with the majority derived from family contributions: $18.6 million in FY2021 and $19.9 million in FY2022. Net investment income was $653,881 in FY2022, up from near zero in FY2020, reflecting a maturing endowment.

Total giving has grown correspondingly: $485,707 (FY2020), $495,003 (FY2021), and $1,018,987 (FY2022) — a 110% increase over two years. The most recent complete filing (FY2022) shows annual giving just over $1 million. FY2023 giving data has not yet appeared in public filings, but with $60.2M in assets and continued strong contributions, giving capacity likely exceeds $1M for that cycle.

The prize structure is transparent and formulaic: $300,000 per annual cycle, distributed as $100,000 per winning organization across three categories (Construction & Design, Finance, and Policy & Regulatory Reform). Individual cash prize awards are uniformly $100,000 — the effective maximum for any single recipient. Runners-up and Top 25 finalists receive non-cash support only: pro bono consulting, student intern placements funded by the foundation, and introductions to funders in the Ivory network. The FY2020 filing shows $265,500 in grants paid, while FY2021 and FY2022 filings show $0 in direct grants paid — consistent with an operating foundation model where disbursements run through program activity rather than traditional grantmaking line items.

Since 2019, Ivory Innovations has distributed over $1.5 million in prize awards to winners while welcoming 172 organizations into its portfolio. The implied average cash award per portfolio organization is approximately $8,700 — low because the majority of portfolio organizations receive recognition and in-kind support rather than cash. For cash recipients specifically, the standard award is $100,000 per category winner.

Geographically, Ivory Innovations funds nationally with no stated geographic restriction. The 2026 finalist cohort spans Utah, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Montana, and Pennsylvania, with clear willingness to fund organizations operating at the local, state, or national scale. Program expense allocation in the most recent program data shows approximately 73% of tracked costs ($362,963 of $495,002 total) flowing through the Ivory Prize and Hack-A-House ecosystem, with the remaining 27% ($132,039) supporting direct affordable housing development activities serving households at 50%, 60%, and 80% of Area Median Income.

Ivory Innovations occupies a distinctive niche as a competition-based operating foundation at the intersection of academic research, real estate industry practice, and philanthropic grantmaking. True peers are rare; the closest comparables are larger, relationship-driven housing funders or academic research centers that do not operate prize competitions.

Ivory Innovations is the smallest by assets among this peer set, but its $100,000 cash prize per category is highly competitive for a competition-based housing funder — comparable to or exceeding most peer innovation prizes in this sector. The open nomination model creates a lower entry barrier than relationship-dependent invited-only funders like MacArthur. Unlike LISC or Enterprise, Ivory Innovations does not fund affordable housing development directly through its grantmaking — it funds the innovators who create tools, technologies, and policies that others use to build housing. The Fieldworks program, which embeds solutions into active Ivory Homes development projects, creates a unique implementation testbed that no peer foundation currently replicates at scale in the housing space.

The most significant recent announcement is the January 27, 2026 release of 2026 Ivory Prize finalists. Ten organizations were named across three categories, with $300,000 in prize money to be distributed when winners are announced on May 12, 2026 — the eighth annual prize cycle. The 2026 finalists include BoulderMOD, Build Reuse, SoLa Impact: Model/Z, and Okibo (Construction & Design); Oro Impact, Nestment, and Head Start on Housing (Finance); and The Other Side Village, Philadelphia Eviction Diversion Program, and Montana Land Use Planning Act (Policy & Regulatory Reform). VP of Programs and Strategy Chad Reed commented that 'there is no silver bullet for our nation's housing crisis, but this year's finalists are delivering proven solutions to diverse challenges that keep costs high.'

On December 4, 2025, Ivory Innovations released 'The Little Book of Low-Cost, High-Impact Housing Solutions,' a free guidebook for municipalities co-developed by Director of Policy Innovation Amy Tomasso. It features case studies from Austin, South Bend, Portland, Sacramento, Minneapolis, and Columbus.

On October 1, 2025, Ivory Innovations announced 2025 Hack-A-House competition winners, continuing the student-focused programming that runs parallel to the flagship prize.

In spring 2025, Grounded Solutions Network received $100,000 as the Finance category winner of the 2025 Ivory Prize for its Homes for the Future initiative. No leadership changes have been publicly announced; Clark Ivory remains President and Director, Abby Ivory serves as Director, and Darin Haskell as Director and Secretary. The foundation's Housing Innovation Database has expanded to 700+ catalogued solutions nationally.

Understand the competition format first. Ivory Innovations does not accept traditional grant proposals at any time. The Ivory Prize is a nomination-based annual competition — you must submit during the September-to-late-October window at ivoryprize.org or by emailing info@ivoryinnovations.org. There is no rolling admissions, no LOI process, and no program officer relationship required before applying.

Demonstrate commercial readiness, not conceptual promise. The search committee explicitly favors solutions past ideation, prototyping, and piloting. Document existing deployments, quantify housing impact (units affected, cost reduction percentage, income tiers served at 50%, 60%, or 80% AMI), and name current partners or clients. A stage-appropriate solution that can scale nationally scores far higher than a promising pilot with aspirational projections.

Pick your category deliberately. Construction & Design judges want technology and efficiency proof points. Finance judges look for capital leverage and replication potential. Policy judges reward demonstrated regulatory or legislative change. If your solution spans categories, lead with your strongest evidence base rather than trying to claim all three.

Earn cross-sector synthesis points. The program description explicitly states that the search committee looks for solutions combining elements of finance, policy, and design/construction. Frame your nomination to show how your innovation intersects multiple housing system layers — even a construction technology can reference the financing implications or zoning changes it enables.

Use the language of scale. Ivory Innovations defines scalable as applicable nationally, not just in a pilot market. Explicitly describe your expansion roadmap: states or markets targeted, capital requirements, regulatory barriers, and partnerships needed. The 2026 finalists ranged from a statewide Montana bill to a California modular factory — both presented national replication pathways.

Engage the ecosystem before nomination season. Submit your solution to the Housing Innovation Database (ivoryinnovations.org/housing-innovation-database-accessed) as early as possible — this is a year-round visibility tool that the Ivory team actively references when scouting and evaluating nominees. Being listed signals organizational legitimacy.

Plan a 12-month cycle. The nomination window opens in early September (2027 cycle opens approximately September 2026), closes late October, Top 25 announced in early spring, and winners announced in May-June. Contact: info@ivoryinnovations.org | (801) 323-3350.