Meet the Innovators 2025 COMMUNITY INNOVATORS

Each Innovator featured below is pursuing an innovation with the potential to address the devaluation of homes in Black-majority neighborhoods as part of the Valuing Homes in Black Communities Collaborative Challenge. Learn about their efforts that focus on market- and policy-based innovations to address critical issues like the racial wealth gap and appraisal bias.

featured innovators

Ashon Nesbitt

Community Land Trusts & Resilient, Missing Middle Ownership Housing
Tallahassee, FL

Cat Goughnour

Maryland's Just Communities Designation
Lanham, MD

Daniel Smith

Keepingly Co
Miami, FL

Doug Ryan

Grounded Solutions Network
Washington, DC

Edward Gaston

AMPLIFY
Jacksonville, FL

Gabe Ewing del Rio

National Down Payment Assistance Solutions - Equity DPA
Santa Ana, CA

Greg Miller

Split-Rate Tax and Automated Valuation Methods in Baltimore
Washington, DC

Habsa Aydid

Gentriguard
Houston, TX

John W. Haines

Community Investment Trust (CIT)
Portland, OR

Junia Howell

eppraiser
Cincinnati, OH

Justin Romeo

The Value of Location
Chicago, IL

Kyle Kamrooz

Bonus Homes
Phoenix, AZ

Louis Byrd

Kataba
Kansas City, MO

Lutalo McGee

The Community Appraisal Review Board
Chicago, IL

Manny Patole

The Plank Road Community Land Bank and Trust (CLBT)
Baton Rouge, LA

Marcus Martin

Homium
New York, NY

Noni Session

East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative: Re-imagining land without landlords
Oakland, CA

Sipho Simela

Matrix Rental Solutions - Universal Rental Application
New York, NY

Tamara Knox

Frolic: Affordable Homeownership, Built by Community
Seattle, WA

Taylor Grandchamp

Property Evaluations (Evals) as a Tool for Appealing Appraisals
Maitland, FL

Vernon Jay

EquityShare – Welcome to the Sharing Equity Economy
Wilmington, NC

Wissam Akra

Tough Leaf
New York, NY
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