THE IVORY NETWORK
Shining a light on housing solutions across the country
At Ivory Innovations, we help make housing more affordable by sourcing the most compelling solutions in the industry and bridging the gap between ideas and impact.
By connecting with the most innovative organizations working on housing affordability, we have cultivated a nationwide network of trusted on-the-ground partners. Below we highlight five who most closely align to solutions for the challenges described in The Little Book.
To explore further, see our Housing Innovations Database or learn more about The Ivory Prize, which identifies and elevates promising solutions to housing affordability through national recognition, funding, and ongoing support.
Recommended Partners
Infilla can help streamline the development approval process.
Infilla is an AI-native platform modernizing permitting and entitlements for local and state government. Their software tools eliminate administrative bottlenecks, improve transparency, and get projects to approval faster.
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Searchable Planning Knowledge Base that centralizes zoning and policy guidance
Digital Fee Calculator that computes jurisdictional-specific permit and entitlement fees automatically
Guided Intake to ensure applicants upload all required materials upfront
Plan Checklist to standardize review and reduce revision cycles
Permitting System that routes reviews, tracks status, and keeps applicants updated
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30-40 hours saved per week in staff time
45% increase in completed initial applications
Smoother onboarding and streamlined work-flows for planning staff = happy planners!
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Infilla has partnered with the State of Delaware, San Francisco Planning, Sonoma County, CA, El Segundo, CA, Tulare County, CA, Richmond, CA, Mountain View, CA, and the NYC Department of Building via the Buildings Tech Lab.
Incremental Development Alliance can help simplify the design process.
Incremental Development Alliance (IncDev) trains small-scale developers and civic leaders to take on small, practical development projects in their communities (think: duplexes, main street buildings, and rehabs) and supports communities to make that work easier.
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Small Development Stress Tests help cities find and remove zoning and design barriers
Workshops + Boot Camps teach small developers to navigate design review and pro formas
Civic leader coaching builds the case for supportive, simplified regulation
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10k+ developers trained across
35+ states and 2 Canadian provinces
~50% of participants are women and developers of color
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Headquartered in Fayetteville, AR, with faculty and alumni-driven work in South Bend, IN; Memphis, TN; Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Portland, OR; Kalamazoo, MI; Chattanooga, TN; and cities nationwide.
Frolic is a mission-driven real estate developer building cooperative housing communities using infill.
Frolic helps single-family homeowners transform their upzoned lots into small multi-family housing communities, creating affordable homeownership options while preventing displacement. Homes are accessible to low-wealth, middle-income families, widening the buyer pool and making starter-home production easier at scale, nationwide.
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Platform that connects landowners, homebuyers, developers and capital within a coordinated system
De-risk production through pre-reserving units on marketplace early in process
Co-op ownership structure that allows developers nationwide to use the system
Licensing that allows developers nationwide to use the system
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$10–30k down payments in a market where conventional down payments are $170K+
50–120% AMI households can afford to buy homes and start building wealth
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Three projects in Seattle, WA, and one in Bay Area with a growing pipeline from their pool of 160+ landowners, 1,000+ buyers, and developers ready to license the next 20 projects.
NZA allows users to see how zoning laws impact local housing.
NZA arms advocates and policymakers with the data they need to make the case for reform. Covering two thirds of the country’s land area and population, this online tool allows users to see how zoning laws impact housing in their communities.
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Public interactive map shows zoning conditions governing every published parcel
Zoning Snapshots summarize stats for every city, town, county, and metro area, and state in the NZA
Standardized methodology codes 200+ zoning characteristics per district
Expert staff of planners, geographers, legal experts, and researchers collect and analyze the data
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1.5 billion acres of land analyzed for their zoning conditions
1.35 million+ pages of zoning code read and standardized
94% vs. 12%: share of U.S. land where single-family vs. multi-family housing is allowed by right
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The NZA team is based in seven states and has been helped by more than 500 external contributors from across the country.
Cleveland’s modular testbed is lowering the risk of offsite construction.
Cleveland, OH, is using its Housing Innovation District as a live testbed for offsite construction, pairing a modular manufacturer pilot with pre-approved plans and pre-funded site prep to cut the cost and risk of building offsite in a legacy market.
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Modular Manufacturer Pilot: a philanthropy-funded product pilot has invited four modular manufacturers to build and deliver homes in the district, testing installation under real field conditions rather than in a factory
Pre-Approved Book: a set of pre-approved home designs built into the city’s Accela permitting system lets a compliant project reuse an already-approved plan
Pre-Funded Site Prep: TIF-eligible costs cover demolition, basement backfill removal, and utility trench reconnection, work the city estimates avoids $30,000 to $35,000 per home in site costs a modular builder would otherwise absorb before installation
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$300–350k: The cost of new stick-built homes to construct, but must sell at $170,000 to reach a family at 80% AMI
43%/38%/70%: poverty rates in these three areas respectively
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The pilot is concentrated in Hough and St. Clair-Superior, on city-owned vacant lots on East 65th and 67th Streets near Chester Avenue.