Introductions

NickAzer

Please introduce yourself to the rest of the community here. Tell us a bit about yourself, your projects and your relation to XPRIZE.

DavidPoli

Greetings! My name is David Poli, and I'm the project lead for the Charter Communities prize design. Over the next few months I'll be leading the team that does the research, zeros in on the direction of the prize, and builds out the parameters of the competition. Previously I worked on the Zero-Waste Mining and Wildfire prize designs, so I'm looking forward to changing gears and focusing on a topic that directly affects the lives of so many people.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions or concerns!

JessicaYoon

Hello everyone! I'm Jessica Yoon, Project Specialist for the Charter Communities prize design. Prior to joining XPRIZE, I've worked for over 5 years providing social services to older-adult communities in affordable housing throughout Southern California. Since joining XPRIZE, I've been involved in projects related to ocean mapping, human health and longevity, and severe air pollution/particulate matter pollution issues within the Asian continent.

I look forward to discussing and designing together with our online community members how we can achieve healthy, vibrant communities for all!

NickAzer

Hi all - I'm Nick Azer, your online community manager. I live in Portland, Oregon in the US. My background is in social media and blogging; I've been community manager here for the Rainforest, Zero-Waste Mining, Carbon Removal, Wildfires, and Empowered Children prize designs, and since 2012 I have been social media manager & content curator for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

If you have any community-related questions or need help, feel free to send me a message here anytime or email me at nick.azer@xprize.org! I'm here to help, and I'm excited about this project; I have some background in planning, and am always thrilled to see the innovative and impactful ways communities and spaces can improve the lives of those who live in them.

prernakuhad

Hi All,
I’m Prerna Kuhad from New Delhi, India. I am the Founder of an affordable housing company, Shubhashray. We construct homes for low-income communities within gated colonies in western India. We have delivered 1000 homes so far.
One of the key challenges we face is in regards to fostering a sense of community and making the colony a functioning microcosm of society.
https://shubhashray.com/about-us/
Very happy to be part of the XPrize community and look forward to mutual learning.

prernakuhad

One of the few people successfully working in this space in the US: https://purposebuiltcommunities.org

sglaude1

I am an experienced community development professional that focuses on innovative solutions for poverty, wealth building for persons of color and innovative initiatives which foster community empowerment and racial equity.

NickAzer

Welcome @sglaude1 and @prernakuhad, its great to have you here in the community! You can find our first topic for discussion here; feel free to join the conversation there, and share any comments, thoughts, or ideas you might have!

Greenduck

Greetings, all.
I am an architect and sustainability geek. My particular passions are about 1) wellness in design, especially related to connection to Nature, and 2) integrative process and how we actually communicate, learn, inform, embrace constraints, and design together for regenerative outcomes.
Service and experience: 12 years in NY State government authority work, implementing and advising on policies, 15 or so years in private practice before that. Some travel and curiosity in there. INvolved wiht the teams at USGBC, ILFI, and NESEA. Did some small research bits as a volunteer for Drawdown. I love collaborative teams and moving things forward with joy. Hiker, kayaker, knitter, storyteller, mom, wife, friend.

sunshinem

Hello. I am the Executive Director of a regional nonprofit housing organization in Virginia. I have been working in the affordable housing sector with a specific focus on the intersection of sustainability, Equity, and race for over fifteen years as an architect and nonprofit developer.

The current housing landscape, at least in the U.S., is built upon systemic race-based interventions designed to exclude or extract from communities of color. Any thoughts toward innovation that fail to root solutions in this context will ultimately be flawed, and like innovations from the past, run the risk of doing more harm than good.

SRashkin

Hi, I'm Sam Rashkin. I've been national director for ENERGY STAR Certified Home and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home that currently include over 2 million labeled homes. I'm departing the federal government on February 29 to work with my own organization, Retooling the U.S. Housing Industry. This is based on my engagement the past five-plus years working with housing executives apart from the federal government. Specifically, I work with them on a framework for extracting $100K to $250K of savings/added value per home by optimizing the community, design, performance, quality, and sales experiences. The context for this executive engagement is that the housing industry is confronting an historical convergence of five crises that will lead to four disruptions. It's a critical time for Housing 2.0.

annedodge

Hello there,

I'm Anne Dodge, Executive Director at the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago. The Institute has a new housing-focused scholarship program, the Kreisman Fellowship for Housing Law and Policy, which focuses on US-based housing issues. And we also have a new research project, https://millionneighborhoods.org/, designed to show the scale of informal settlements (places where people live disconnected from formal roads and services) worldwide.
And personally, I am a former employee and supporter of the National Public Housing Museum here in Chicago, as well as an Americorps alum who spent that year working in public housing in Columbia, South Carolina.
Very much looking forward to connecting with you all.

FanyuLin

Hi everyone, my name is Fanyu Lin, CEO of Fluxus, a construction technology company and impact enterprise based in New York. We are committed to providing affordable and sustainable housing for low-to-middle-income communities by leveraging innovations in sustainable building materials, intelligent design, industrialization and digitalization of construction. Look forward to working with like-minded leaders in this group and contributing to Charter Communities.

NickAzer

Great to have you all here! You can find our first topic for discussion here, on defining a successful community. Let us know any thoughts or links you might have on that topic, and if you have any questions. Looking forward to discussing this prize design with everyone! @Greenduck @sunshinem @SRashkin @annedodge @FanyuLin

alexadlp

Hi all,
My name is Alex André de la Porte a Venture Partner with a VC fund called Aera, family office next gen and property guy. I focus all my effort on investing in sustainability today to make the world a better place tomorrow.
Very excited to be involved and looking forward to the next steps. Thank you for having me.
Alex

LisaHomesFund

Hi everyone! My name is Lisa and I am the Executive Director for a nonprofit organization called HomesFund that is based in Durango, Colorado. We give people the educational and financial tools needed to reach homeownership in our beautiful, but expensive, area. I look forward to corresponding with others in the XPrize community!

bngejane

Hi everyone, my name is bk. I am a founder of Peniel Impact. At Peniel, we are working at increasing the adoption of data technology across the impact landscape. I am pleased to be part of this community and looking forward to learning and contributing to the Challenge. ......tx Nick for the add.

Jefferson

Hello everyone, My name is Jefferson, I am doing a start up here in Melbourne Australia, with the mission of developing highly energy efficient affordable housing. It is my strong held belief that unless we utilise technology and a sprit of compassion for humanity, then we will not tackle this huge problem head on. Currently people in the first world are struggling to buy homes and being caught in a vicious rental cycle and then when we look at the 3rd world it is shameful to say that there are there are 330 million sub standard housing units housing 1.6 billion people currently. It is my goal to try and do something about this and hopefully all of us here can be a catalyst for this change.

fferguson

Good morning community, my name is Frances. My career has been in affordable housing in the US, working locally in Austin, TX and nationally through NeighborWorks America. My focus has been on sustainable business models that can develop and preserve affordable housing -- mostly rental but also ownership through shared appreciation - at large scales for the very long term. Looking forward to engaging on this essential topic.

RachitaMisra

Hello all! I am Rachita from SELCO Foundation. Identifying climate change and poverty as two of the biggest threats facing humanity today, our focus has been to use sustainable energy access as a tool for inclusive development. Taking a very systems approach, we also expand the work around energy access by focussing on energy efficiency. Particular to the interest of this forum, we look towards fostering an ecosystem that ensures the delivery of energy efficient habitats for the poor- from health centres to work sheds and homes; from portable housing and pre fab housing to pucca structures. More on our work- www.selcofoundation.org
Look forward to learning more from this community

dpelleti

Hi. I am Danilo Pelletiere. I am currently working in Washington, DC to implement affordable housing and community development policy that allows the city to prosper and become more welcoming and affordable at the same time. I am interested in sharing what we are learning and learning from others what is possible.

NickAzer

Welcome all! @alexadlp @LisaHomesFund @bngejane @Jefferson @fferguson @RachitaMisra @dpelleti

We've posted today our two newest discussions:

• Why Isn't the Housing Industry More Innovative?
• Empowering Individuals and Families: Community Links and Opportunities.

We'd love to see any input you may have on these topics! And thank you for all of your comments and input so far!

Nirmita

Hello Everyone - I am Nirmita, Program Manager - Sustainable Habitat with SELCO Foundation where we develop technological solutions for energy efficiency. We do this by promoting sustainable material, need based and user centric design and construction methodology for productive use of space, well being and savings for socioeconomic development of marginalised communities. Looking forward to connecting with everyone.

Rwyse

Hello all - My name is Rexanah Wyse, Esq. I serve as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). USICH is a federal agency that coordinates the federal response to ending homelessness. We have a strong interest when it comes to affordable housing and affordable construction. I'm a former prosecutor and a policy professional dedicated to connecting opportunity and resources for people to thrive. Grateful for the opportunity to be connected to this community.

NickOttens

Thank you for joining us, @Nirmita and @Rwyse! I'm looking forward to your involvement here.

My name is Nick Ottens, I'm the XPRIZE Community Manager. I'll be standing in for my colleague @NickAzer for a bit. If you have any community-related questions, or need help, please don't hesitate to reach out.

ashokjain

I am not new to the X-Prize. I bow to the community.
I am an engineer with about 50 years of experience in design, construction, and manufacturing of civil engineering structures and their components. My basic interest is light weight, low material consumption, green structures with adequate durability and strength. I have conceptualised dwelling units at about 60%, i.e. material, energy, time, labour and overall cost.
I am sure, I will enjoy working with the community.

ashokjain

This is addressed to Rachitamishra.
Your statements suggest that a prefab house is not PUCCA house.
i am in the manufacturing of prefab houses and buildings and other structures which I make are as pucca as they come.
I have buildings which are forty years old and working fine in government sectors even.

nmgraham

Hello Everyone! I am a shiny new addition to XPRIZE and have been assigned as a Research Analyst to the Charter Communities Prize design team. One of the aspects on this project that I will be supporting is facilitating discussions in this community. If you are here that means you have something valuable to contribute to this topic, and I hope our communications can expand and refine ideas on what it means to create a community based prize competition.

Previous to XPRIZE, I spent my career involved in research, science communication, and education. I believe fresh perspectives guide innovation and create new interdisciplinary connections. I look forward to learning more from all of you!

JimKing

Hi all, my name is Jim King, I run a regional nonprofit in Central Appalachia, one of the 5 persistent poverty regions in the country,. We give people the tools to succeed and affordable housing is cornerstone of our work. Look forward to connecting with you all.

csmith102462

Hi, my name is Craig Smith and am based in Sacramento, California. I am a corporate development executive and engineer who recently left Cemex, the global cement and building materials company, to focus on private investment and entrepreneurship. Am excited to bring my background in building materials and interest in sustainable technologies to the Charter Communities project. I look forward to working with you all!

NickOttens

Thank you for joining us, @JimKing and @csmith102462, and happy to see you again, @ashokjain! I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts. You can find our active discussions under Key Issues.