Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations Award

The following questions and answers will explain how the closing of the Fannie Mae Foundation will affect the Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award in Affordable Housing. Please read through this information carefully.

Q: Will there be an Ash Institute's Innovations in American Government Award in 2007?

A: Yes. The Foundation made a grant in 2006 to support an award in 2007 for innovations in affordable housing and community develop as part of the Ash Institute's Innovations in Government Award. The application deadline for the 2007 Innovations in American Government Awards competition has passed. Additional information about this awards program is posted on the Ash Institute's Web site.

Q: What about alumni from the Fannie Mae Foundation leadership programs, such as the Fannie Mae Foundation Fellowship Program at the Kennedy School, the James A. Johnson Community Fellowship Program, the Maxwell Awards of Excellence Program, and the Ash Institute's Innovations in American Government Award?

A: The alumni from the Foundation's leadership programs are part of a broader alumni network of housing leaders. In order to strengthen this network, the Foundation has issued an alumni directory to share contact information with this vast network of alumni from the signature programs. In addition, KnowledgePlex will maintain a Web site for alumni to update their contact information online.

Background Information on the Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award in Affordable Housing

The Fannie Mae Foundation is pleased to support the Innovations in American Government Award in Affordable Housing, which honors outstanding policies and programs that support the preservation or production of affordable homes, or that otherwise help to create a better environment for affordable housing. The award is administered by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The Innovations Awards are heralded as the premier public-sector awards in the nation, annually recognizing programs that serve as examples of creative and effective government at its best.

The six semifinalists of the Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award in Affordable Housing have been named. The six programs-which were chosen for their novelty and uniqueness, effectiveness in addressing significant problems, and potential for replication by other government entities-are:

Anaheim, California's Affordable Family Housing Ordinance was developed through a partnership with a community coalition known as The Kennedy Commission to remove barriers to the production of housing affordable to the city's lowest wage working families.
Eugene, Oregon's Landbanking Program for Affordable Housing is central to its affordable housing strategy. The program has acquired over 90 acres of land and enabled the development of over 500 affordable units.
Genesee County, Michigan's Urban Land Reform Initiative is a self-sustaining economic model that connects tax foreclosure with management and disposition of vacant and abandoned property to stabilize neighborhoods and improve the value of urban land.
Fairfax County, Virginia's Magnet Housing Program addresses workforce needs by linking training and housing in a manner that ultimately increases participants' earnings and career options and helps them achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.
Pennsylvania's Homeowners' Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program is a loan program to prevent widespread mortgage foreclosures and distress sales of homes that result from default caused by circumstances beyond a homeowner's control.
Iowa's Title Guaranty Division provides the equivalent of private title insurance at substantially reduced cost. Since 1986 over $40 million in profits has been generated for the state's housing programs.

To learn more about the semi-finalists and their programs, please click here to visit the Ash Institute Web site.
Click on the links below to view the press releases on past recipients of the Innovations in American Government Award in Affordable Housing.

2006 Innovations Award in Affordable Housing

2005 Innovations Award in Affordable Housing