$20 Million National Grant Competition

Solving the nation’s housing affordability crisis calls on us to do more than find new ways to accelerate production. We also need innovations that increase access and create the structural change necessary to achieve equity in communities across the nation.

Meet the 2023 Winners

Made possible by the leadership and support of the Wells Fargo Foundation, the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is a $20 million initiative to inspire, propel, and scale housing solutions. This is the second innovation challenge led by Enterprise and Wells Fargo.

With grants of $2 million to $3 million, two years of technical guidance, and the benefit of an engaged cohort, the winners will advance and expand the reach and impact of their housing innovations.

Our call for proposals sought innovations that prioritize racial equity and environmental sustainability. The winners compose a majority of BIPOC-led organizations, and their breakthrough ideas reflect the diversity of their communities – from a lending and education innovation created with and for Tribal homebuyers, to a high school preparing Black students for the construction trades and generational wealth via homeownership. All the innovations are designed to build a more just, accessible and sustainable housing system.

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Through the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, we are intentionally lifting up solutions to serve communities that have experienced disinvestment and marginalization for far too long. And the winners truly combine expertise with the lived experiences of the communities we aim to serve.

Stacy Spann, Head of Housing Access and Affordability Philanthropy, Wells Fargo Foundation

Wooden model structure exhibit with the words A Better Way Home on the wall

Breakthrough Challenge Exhibit Extended

Our interactive exhibit, “A Better Way Home: The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge,” at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., has been extended through Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 15, 2024.

The exhibit features the six winners of the 2020 Breakthrough Challenge and the stories of their housing innovations through photography, diagrams, videos, and more. Since opening to the public in October 2022, the exhibit has welcomed over 23,000 visitors.

Created by the MASS Design Group, the exhibit is a testament to what’s possible when you inspire and support bold ideas and action.

The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge enables experts on the ground to multiply their impact nationwide. We are so excited to work with this second cohort of winners to bring their ideas to the next level.

Jacqueline Waggoner, President, Solutions Division, Enterprise

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Cornerstone Blue

Live Pitch Competition

Two Exhilarating Days

Sixteen finalists pitched their housing innovation before a panel of judges with deep expertise and experience. While nerves ran high, ideas and inspiration flowed freely, on and off stage at the National Building Museum and throughout the pitch competition. “One of the hardest parts of the work is sometimes you feel like you’re in it alone,” said finalist Kavya Shankar, cofounder and COO of Trust Neighborhoods. “To be surrounded by a community of peers and collaborators was a great way to re-energize and celebrate what we’ve accomplished so far.”

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Our 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challengewinners continue making strides as they welcome residents into new homes and scale their solutions across geographies. See where they’re making an impact – and what it means to remain part of a dynamic cohort of housing innovators.

We all felt naturally aligned with each other. There’s so much potential for us to
collectively change our housing system
for the better.

– Julianna Stuart-Lomax, Preservation of Affordable Housing, 2020 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge Winner

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