Hack-A-House FAQ
Hack-A-House is an annual 24-hour “hackathon” created to inspire students to develop innovative solutions for the housing affordability crisis. Participants collaborate with peers, industry experts, and competition judges to explore and address housing challenges.
Join us for Hack-A-House 2024 on September 27-28!
Hack-A-House is a 24-hour virtual hackathon-style competition for college and grad students to formulate and pitch innovative ideas to improve housing affordability.
Hack-A-House is 100% virtual. The competition kicks off at noon Mountain Time on Friday, September 27, and ends at noon MT on September 28.
All college and graduate students are welcome. The competition is US-based, so prompt subject matter may focus more heavily on US-specific housing challenges. However, students from other countries are welcome to compete as well. Our judges always appreciate international perspectives!
Hack-A-House General Information
At noon MT on Friday, September 27, three carefully crafted prompt topics will be released, each designed to address a specific challenge impacting housing affordability. Participants will select one of these topics to focus on. Following their selection, they will delve into research, consult with industry experts, and develop a comprehensive understanding of the issue. Over the course of the day and evening, teams will work to prepare a short but impactful slide deck summarizing their proposed solution.
Slides must be uploaded by 9 am MT on Saturday, September 28. Between 9:30 am and noon MT on Saturday, presentations will be delivered live via Zoom to a panel of judges and competing teams. After deliberation, the judges will announce one winner for each topic later that same day.
Participants will have access to live Zoom calls with housing industry experts. In addition, a list of virtual resources curated specifically for each prompt will be made available at the start of the competition.
Event Structure
The virtual competition culminates in the selection of three winners - one for each prompt topic. These three topic winning teams receive $3,000 each, along with the opportunity to present their ideas at the Ivory Prize Summit at Harvard University on October 25, 2024.
At the Summit, each winning team will present their submission to a live audience of entrepreneurs, academics, and other housing professionals. After hearing the pitches, the audience will vote to select a Grand Prize winner from among the presenting teams, who will receive an additional $2,000. Ivory Innovations will cover travel expenses for topic winning teams.*
Winners are selected by a panel of judges based on the following criteria:
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Innovation & Uniqueness: Is the proposal different from what exists in the industry today? Remember, the “difference” can be small or subtle, but it should be significant to your solution’s impact.
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Scalability: Is there a clearly articulated path to replication or expansion? If there are obvious barriers to scalability, does the submission directly address how these barriers would be overcome?
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Feasibility: Is the proposal realistic? Consider starting costs, policy barriers, technological constraints, etc. Hack-A-House is about innovation, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box… just not too far. If you do come up with something particularly pioneering, be sure to spend time in your presentation articulating your path to implementation. How would you overcome key barriers?
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Adherence to the prompt: Does the proposal effectively address the specific challenge outlined in your chosen prompt?
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Prizes and Recognition
Registration can be completed online using this form.
Hack-A-House is - and will always be - 100% free for all participants. We thank our sponsors, Think Wood and WaFd Bank, for helping to support this year’s competition.
You can register as an individual or as part of a team of up to five students. If you register as an individual, we will help match you with other participants to form a team. To register as a team, each member should register individually using the same team name.
We’ve seen winning teams that worked on their submissions for just a few hours as well as winners who stayed up most of the night perfecting their pitch. You can view last year’s submissions here.
Participation Details
In addition to our founding partners, who support all of Ivory Innovations’ work, Hack-A-House 2024 is supported by Think Wood and WaFd Bank.
For sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to Chad Reed, Ivory Innovations’ Director of Programs and Growth.
Support and Sponsorship
The best way to stay updated is to simply register for the competition! Besides that, we invite you to follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
For any additional questions, please reach out to Chad Reed , Ivory Innovations’ Director of Programs and Growth.
Additional Information & Contact
* For teams selected to participate in the Ivory Prize Summit, Ivory Innovations will cover the price of airfare and provide one hotel room on the night of Thursday, October 24, 2024.