MEET THE COMMUNITY INNOVATORS

The Featured Innovators have been selected as part of the Valuing Homes in Black Communities Challenge. Each of them is pursuing an innovation with the potential to address the devaluation of homes in Black communities.

featured innovators

Amanda Alexander

Detroit Justice Centre
Detroit, Michigan

Ashley Allen

Houston Community Land Trust
Houston, Texas

Roshun Austin

The Works, Inc.
Memphis, Tennessee

Gianna Baker

Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance
Chicago, Illinois

John Bartlett

Metropolitan Tenants Organization
Chicago, Illinois

Jonathan Brown

Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners
Palm Beach County, Florida

Kwasi Frye

SayLambda
Washington, D.C.

Lance George

Housing Assistance Council
Washington, D.C.

Marisela Gomez

Village of Love and Resistance, VOLAR
Baltimore, Maryland

John Green

Blackstar Stability Investment Management LLC
Camden, Delaware

Bree Jones

Parity Baltimore Incorporated
Baltimore, Maryland

Ericka Kelly

Greater Milwaukee Committee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Tamara Knox

Frolic Community LLC
Seattle, Washington

John Liss

True Footage Inc.
Seattle, Washington

Adrian Madriz

Struggle for Miami’s Affordable and Sustainable Housing, Inc.
Miami, Florida

William Martinez

Martinez & Associates
Vacaville, California

Andreanecia Morris

HousingNOLA
New Orleans, Louisiana

Zach Murray

The Guild
Atlanta, Georgia

Maya Porter

Growth Spots International, Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky

Santhosh Ramdoss

Gary Community Ventures
Denver, Colorado

Veronica Reed

Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative
New Orleans, Louisiana

Carlos Robles-Shanahan

Duo Development
Chicago, Illinois

Scot Rose

Class Valuation
Troy, Michigan

Ellen Sahli

Family Housing Fund
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Charu Singh

Humane Works LLC
New York, New York

Anna Thompson

City of Detroit
Detroit, Michigan

Rosalind Williams

WITH ACTION
St. Louis, Missouri

Evelyn Zwiebach

Enterprise Community Partners
Detroit, Michigan

Articles

Innovations for scaling CLTs

“Over the next several years, we need to get to a million new units with lasting affordability,” says Grounded Solutions CEO Tony Pickett. “So we’re looking at ways to catalyze expanding CLT portfolios and the capacity of the organizations on the ground. That work is… Read More
May 20, 2022

Championing affordable rentals and tenants’ rights in New Orleans

Today, new disruptions such as the pandemic, growing gentrification, and the rise of tech- enabled short-term rentals for tourists are ratcheting up displacement pressures. Available housing inventory is down to its lowest level in a decade, public housing is now rented out at market rates, and affordable rentals are disappearing. Read More
May 20, 2022

Structural inequities in New Orleans

They were three times as likely as white residents to be flooded out in the storm, since historic discriminatory housing and lending practices concentrated higher ground property in the hands of white homeowners. By the time banks started lending to Black buyers, what was left was mostly flood-prone property. In… Read More
May 20, 2022
More articles