The 2026 Ivory Prize Summit to Spotlight Housing Solutions Communities Can Put to Work

National gathering at Arizona State University on Oct. 14 connects housing innovators, policymakers and developers to share knowledge and advance affordability

TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the housing affordability crisis continues to grip communities nationwide, Ivory Innovations is bringing the nation's top housing changemakers together to turn bold ideas into real-world action.

Ivory Innovations, an operating foundation and academic center based at the University of Utah, is hosting its annual Ivory Prize Summit on Oct. 14 at Arizona State University. The gathering aims to advance housing affordability by connecting promising innovations with the people and organizations positioned to put them into practice.

The summit fosters collaboration across sectors that too often address housing challenges separately. Its focus on systemic solutions will give attendees an opportunity to exchange ideas and build relationships across policy, development, research, and entrepreneurship.

"The most important thing that we can focus on as we seek to solve the broader issue of housing affordability is taking solutions that already exist and share them with the communities that need them the most." said Abby Ivory, co-founder and president of Ivory Innovations. "We're excited to be bringing industry experts and housing advocates together to share and discuss solutions to a problem that has such a huge impact on families across the country."

Featured presenters:

• Clark Ivory, Ivory Homes CEO and Ivory Innovations Co-founder
• Chris Herbert, Managing Director of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies and Ivory Innovations Advisory Board Chairman
• Eric Kronberg, Principal at Kronberg Urbanists + Architects and Co-founder of Inc Codes
• Laurie Goodman, The Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center Founder
• Jonathan Lawless, Bilt Rewards Head of Homeownership
• Dennis Steigerwalt, Housing Innovation Alliance President
• Alison Cook-Davis, Research Director at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy and Co-Director of the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability
• Flavio Bravo, Arizona State Senator
• Shawnna Bolick, Arizona State Senator
• Nicole Newhouse, Director of the Arizona Housing Coalition
• Anakaren Lemus, Chief of Government Affairs for the Arizona Department of Housing

The summit will also honor the winners of the 2026 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability, whose work illustrates how communities can approach affordability in three categories; Construction & Design, Finance, and Policy & Regulatory Reform. This year's winners are TradesFutures, the City of Boston's Boston Acquisition Fund, and the City of Chattanooga's Affordable Housing PILOT and the City of New Rochelle's Downtown Development initiative as co-winners.

These honorees created concrete starting points for a national conversation about housing solutions: preparing more people for construction careers, financing housing acquisition, and using local policy to support affordability and development.

The summit will also include presentations from the three teams that won Hack-A-House, an annual Ivory Innovations competition where college students nationwide propose innovative solutions to housing affordability. These presentations will be livestreamed, followed by a round of voting for the competition's Grand Prize.

The Ivory Prize Summit is presented in partnership with MOD X, Housing Innovation Alliance, the Arizona Research Center for Housing and Economic Solutions, and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University.

Attendance and media information

The summit will take place Oct. 14, 2026, at Memorial Union, Arizona State University, 301 E. Orange St., Tempe. Registration, parking, and event information are available at ivoryinnovations.org/ivory-prize-summit.

Reporters interested in attending, covering the summit or requesting interviews should contact Ivory Innovations Director of Marketing Anna Burleson at [email protected].

About Ivory Innovations
Ivory Innovations is an operating foundation and academic center based at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. Through programs including Hack-A-House, it supports innovative approaches to addressing housing affordability. For more information visit ivoryinnovations.org.

SOURCE Ivory Innovations