The housing affordability crisis has reached a point where solutions can no longer come from traditional approaches alone. As Ian Cahoon, Director of Innovation at Ivory Innovations, observes, “People realize that, ‘the kids are not gonna be able to afford a house’. It starts to be, ‘these people over here have this problem to now I and my family have this problem.'”
This shift from distant concern to personal urgency has created new opportunities for innovative approaches to housing development. Ivory Innovations, a nonprofit organization, has positioned itself at the intersection of student creativity, industry expertise, and practical implementation through a multi-pronged strategy spanning education, competition, and real-world projects.
Cahoon’s path to housing innovation began early, growing up around family members involved in real estate development. “I was really lucky to be able to grow up around housing,” he explains. “Had family members, whether it’s aunts or uncles or grandparents, that were all involved in real estate and housing. As a young kid, really looked up to them and saw the lifestyle and saw the cool things they were working on.”
This early exposure led to high school internships with local developers. After switching from finance to urban planning during his undergraduate studies, Cahoon gained hands-on experience at CW Urban in Utah, working on a variety of projects.
A unique opportunity arose when both developers he worked under left simultaneously. “There was this big gap that opened up, and they were like, ‘You have the most experience on these projects. We know you’re probably not ready, but go figure it out,'” Cahoon recalls. This experience across diverse projects provided crucial real-world grounding.
Recognizing gaps in his financial skills, Cahoon pursued a Master’s in Real Estate Development at Columbia University, which he completed four months ago. “I didn’t have the best finance skills on the team, just with the background in urban planning,” he acknowledges. The program filled those gaps while connecting him more deeply with Ivory Innovations.
The centerpiece of Ivory Innovations’ student engagement strategy is Hack-A-House, a 24-hour international competition scheduled for September 26-27. Students from over 70 universities worldwide can participate in this hackathon-style event addressing housing affordability through three categories: finance, construction and design, and policy and regulatory reform.
“We don’t expect the students to be experts, and we almost don’t want it,” Cahoon explains. “We want fresh ideas. There’s an analogy I love: the dragonfly approach, where you have all these eyes and all these perspectives that are all put together to come up with kind of a final solution.”
The event begins at noon Mountain Time on September 26 with prompt release, followed by 30-minute deep dives into each category. Industry leaders provide direct feedback to students. “A student may come in and say, ‘hey, I have this idea about using mycelium, as a new building typology’, and then the industry leader could say, ‘here are some of the concerns that you should be aware of,'” Cahoon illustrates.
Ivory Innovations staff provide office hours for technical questions, and live judging occurs the following morning, with winners announced at 1:30 PM Mountain Time.
The competition has already produced tangible results. Kit Switch, focused on office conversions and prefab interior design, formed during a previous Hack-A-House competition, won their category, and decided to launch their business based on their idea.
Winning teams receive $3,000 and are flown to the Ivory Prize Summit for a chance at an additional $2,000 grand prize. A People’s Choice Award provides another $1,000. But the real value lies in the pathway from student competition to real-world implementation.
The Ivory Prize represents the next step, accepting nominations from companies and organizations with innovative housing solutions. Winners receive up to $100,000 in grant funding with no equity requirements, plus access to Ivory Innovations’ network of 500 organizations for connections ranging from CFO recruitment to venture capital introductions.
For companies beyond the pilot stage but not yet at scale, the Field Works program provides implementation opportunities. “We have a project we’re doing called Mahogany Ridge out in Magna, Utah. We’re doing about 200 units, and we had about a month-long application window where companies could apply, that are post pilot, but they haven’t quite reached scale yet,” Cahoon explains.
This program targets companies that “no one’s really taken the chance on them. And so we have been the ones to say, we will take the chance on you guys.”
Ivory Innovations currently manages seven active development projects, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for a Francis, Utah project. Their approach targets 60% Area Median Income housing without government funding, instead “working with counties to use our property taxes doing well styled units, but maybe not the top of the line, and so we can create this naturally occurring affordable housing.”
This strategy, developed with Call to Action foundation, has produced 1,500 affordable units across Utah, with goals of thousands more. The projects span apartments to townhomes across multiple counties, demonstrating scalable approaches to affordable housing development.
The organization’s multi-faceted approach reflects broader market recognition that housing solutions require diverse strategies. “Housing is not one silver bullet approach, but it’s really a buckshot of great ideas and innovators and students and organizations all working together to make meaningful impacts on housing,” Cahoon notes.
This philosophy acknowledges that as housing affordability becomes increasingly personal for American families, solutions must come from multiple directions. The combination of student innovation, industry expertise, and practical implementation creates a pipeline for testing and scaling new approaches.
Students from construction, architecture, urban planning, finance, and civil engineering programs have found the most success in Hack-A-House competitions, though all disciplines are welcome. Teams can include one to five members, with a “find a team” feature on hackahouse.org connecting students globally.
While Hack-A-House and the Ivory Prize operate nationally, Field Works currently focuses on Utah. However, the model demonstrates potential for broader geographic expansion as housing affordability challenges intensify nationwide.
For students interested in participating, registration remains open until 11:59 AM Mountain Time on September 26. The competition represents more than just a contest, it’s an entry point into a comprehensive ecosystem designed to move housing innovations from concept to reality.
As housing challenges continue to affect more American families directly, initiatives like Ivory Innovations’ integrated approach may prove essential for developing the diverse solutions needed to address this complex crisis. The organization’s success in moving student ideas through to real-world implementation suggests that fresh perspectives, when properly supported and channeled, can contribute meaningfully to housing innovation.
Students and organizations interested in participating can find more information at hackahouse.org for the competition or contact Cahoon directly for involvement in any of Ivory Innovations’ programs.
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