Previous Ivory Fellows

2025

Jason Boyle

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Jason will help ROC USA, a national nonprofit, expand its efforts to create cooperatives owned by people who live in previously private manufactured home communities.

Porsche Dames

Master in Urban Planning
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Porsche will help Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI) expand its affordable housing portfolio and advance its Brownfield Opportunity Area planning strategy.

Aditi Dash

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Aditi will work with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s new Infrastructure, Climate, and Mobility team to improve access to housing, increase the housing stock, and create environmentally sustainable buildings.

Juan Rodriguez

Master in Public Administration
Harvard Kennedy School

Juan will help the Boston Mayor's Office of Housing advance an initiative focused on financial planning for homeowners interested in creating accessory dwelling units. 

Jerwin Tiu

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Jerwin will help Hawaii's Statewide Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions improve its housing inventory database and planning for village-style housing communities to combat homelessness. 

Maya Yassine

Master in Public Health
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Maya will help the Boston Mayor's Office of Housing better understand how supportive services for formerly homeless individuals living in transitional housing are funded and sustained.

Joshua Young

Master in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School

Joshua will help the City of Bethlehem's Community and Economic Development Department develop a revolving loan fund for affordable housing.

2024

Nour-Lyna Boulgamh

Doctor of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Nour Lyna worked at FWDSLASH, a 2024 Ivory Prize semifinalist that is helping community-based nonprofits in West Virginia, Kentucky, and California provide housing, health care, social services for high-need households. She helped FWDSLASH develop better evaluation metrics for its work and also developed a detailed guide outlining best practices for community-based housing development. 

Edwin Garcia

Master in Business Administration
Harvard Business School

Eddy worked on three projects for Ivory Innovations, a nonprofit whose mission is to catalyze innovation in housing affordability. He led a pro bono consulting project for of 122 portfolio organizations associated with Ivory Innovations; mapped key stakeholders and networks in the international housing innovation ecosystem, and helped create initiatives to strengthen Ivory’s connections with national philanthropic organizations, homebuilders, and research organizations. 

Yael Goldstein

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
Harvard College

Yael conducted research for the Rhode Island Department of Housing on a variety of topics including master leasing, understanding and expediting the rate of housing development, local compliance with the state's affordable housing law, and the effectiveness of statewide rent control laws.

Klara Kaufman

Master in Design Studies
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Klara worked at Nesterly, a 2019 Ivory Prize semifinalist, which facilitates intergenerational homesharing. She developed a training guide for customer support; created an internal and external Homesharing Launch Toolkit; and carried out other projects related to Nesterly’s expansion into Maine, Nashville, and Pittsburgh. 

Patrick Margain

Patrick worked on “OpenHOUse: A Thermodynamic Living System” a prototype for an off-site, climate-responsive manufactured house that can be transported, disassembled, and reassembled. The project, which is based at the University of Houston’s Hines School of Architecture and Design, is one of 12 collegiate teams that received $100,000 in seed funding from the Gateway Decathlon, a competition connected with a redevelopment initiative in St. Louis that seeks to create a new innovation district and hub for the pre-fab building Industry.  

Kayla Springer

Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies
Harvard College

Kayla worked with the Policy and Advocacy Team and the Housing Systems Team at Community Solutions, a 2022 Ivory Prize finalist that is working to end homelessness. She conducted in-depth research on resources and funding that partner communities can use to create and preserve affordable housing. 

Emily Tekamp

Master in Business Administration
Harvard Business School

Emily was an Impact Investing Intern at Calvert Impact, an impact investing firm. She led a market review of the affordable housing sector, updated research in segments where Calvert Impact already invests (such as affordable housing lenders, impact-aligned developers) and identified areas for future investment (such as modular construction). 

Kellie Zhao

Kelly worked at Connect Homes, a 2022 Ivory Prize semifinalist, that creates and installs modular prefab homes. She worked on a variety of projects related to the development, design, permitting, and production of those units.