Supporting Housing Innovation and Student Careers

Chasidy Miles was one of Ivory Innovations’ 4 sponsored housing innovation interns in Summer 2022. Read below for her reflection on getting to know the Ivory Innovations team and working at Builders Patch, a 2022 Ivory Prize Finalist.

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For graduate students looking to fasten their place on the job market, gaining valuable work experience and academic training is essential. However, this experience often comes in the form of unpaid internships, further perpetuating racial and economic disparities for young professionals. Like many first-generation college students, I could not afford to offer free labor in exchange for training and business connections, which put me at a disadvantage for summer employment. However, thanks to Ivory Innovations, I didn’t have to choose between professional opportunities or economic security.

I was introduced to Ivory Innovations, a nonprofit promoting innovation in housing affordability, after winning first place in their 2021 Hack-A-House competition. In addition to providing $3,000 in scholarship support, the team introduced me to founders in their portfolio and matched my internship salary for the summer. This opened the door to several great companies and allowed me to apply my academic knowledge to real-world problems. 

After interviewing with Ivory Innovations' affiliate companies, I decided to work for Builders Patch. Their secure, cloud-based platform manages affordable multi-family housing deals from acquisition to asset management. Female co-founders Kanan Ajmera and Uma Pandit boast years of experience and a comprehensive, mission-driven product. 

As a consultant, I gained a strong understanding of the deal lifecycle and deep contextual knowledge of the daily pain points developers and lenders experienced. For example, a significant component of deal management is busy work: thousands of Pro-forma edits, back-and-forth emails for due diligence, tedious file collection for report generation, and other redundant tasks. The Builders Patch platform automated this process, which allowed us to streamline our client's workflow, reduce project costs, and consolidate critical players. 

Without Builders Patch, I would not have had the confidence, knowledge, and ability to stand out in interviews for community development finance. The insight, friendships, and mentorship gained from my experience is invaluable and became a launch point for my career. I know this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity would have never been possible without the assistance of the Ivory Innovations team.