Grounded Solutions Network

Grounded Solutions Network Grounded Solutions Network is a nonprofit organization focused on promoting and supporting community land trust models, shared equity homeownership, and permanently affordable housing across the United States. The organization traces its roots to predecessor initiatives that connected practitioners, policymakers, and funders in the affordable housing and community development fields. Grounded Solutions Network works with local and national partners to scale community-based strategies and influence policy at municipal, state, and federal levels.

History

Grounded Solutions Network emerged from the consolidation of legacy initiatives including the National CLT Network and the Cornerstone Partnership in the mid-2010s, building on histories connected to the Rosenberg Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and practitioner networks formed during campaigns around the Preservation of Affordable Housing and Community Development Corporations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Early leadership brought together advocates with backgrounds at organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Enterprise Community Partners, and municipal programs in cities like Burlington, Vermont, Boston, and Seattle. The organization expanded its footprint through partnerships with state housing finance agencies, regional intermediaries like NeighborWorks America, and philanthropic initiatives from foundations such as MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation.

Mission and Programs

The mission centers on advancing permanently affordable homeownership and shared equity strategies through capacity building, technical assistance, training, and policy advocacy. Programmatic work connects practitioners from community land trusts to officials at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and policymakers in state legislatures such as those in California, New York (state), and Massachusetts. Major program areas include training for nonprofit developers modeled on curricula influenced by Federal Home Loan Bank practice, policy workshops tied to acts like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit reforms, and financing pilots that engage intermediaries including Wells Fargo Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, and regional community development financial institutions such as Reinvestment Fund and Enterprise Community Loan Fund.

Community Land Trust Model

Grounded Solutions Network promotes the community land trust (CLT) model as a tool for achieving long-term affordability, adapting practices pioneered in places like Burlington, Vermont and programs associated with organizations such as Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and academic research from Harvard Kennedy School and MIT. The CLT approach separates land ownership from housing ownership to preserve affordability, often combining shared equity resale formulas inspired by precedents in Rochdale Cooperative Movement adaptations, resale-restricted covenants used in Inclusionary zoning programs, and stewardship frameworks similar to those advanced by Cooperative Housing International. Technical assistance covers topics including ground lease design, stewardship boards informed by governance models from National Housing Trust, mortgage underwriting aligned with guidance from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and preservation strategies linked to Community Reinvestment Act goals.

Impact and Partnerships

Grounded Solutions Network partners with municipal governments like Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Atlanta and collaborates with national organizations including National Low Income Housing Coalition, Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, and Housing Partnership Network. Impact metrics reported by allied CLTs and partner organizations have influenced local policy wins involving funding streams from community development block grant allocations, municipal bond measures similar to those passed in Denver, and state trust funds established in jurisdictions such as Vermont and Oregon. The organization has also worked with academic partners at institutions like Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and New York University to evaluate outcomes related to wealth retention, displacement mitigation, and neighborhood stabilization seen in CLT portfolios across metropolitan regions including Los Angeles County, Cook County, and the Washington metropolitan area.

Governance and Funding

Governance structures include a board of directors drawn from nonprofit leaders, affordable housing practitioners, legal experts, and philanthropic representatives with backgrounds at entities such as Enterprise Community Partners, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Ford Foundation, and municipal housing authorities in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia. Funding sources combine foundation grants, government contracts, fee-for-service technical assistance, and philanthropic partnerships, engaging funders such as Kresge Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, and corporate social responsibility arms of financial institutions including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Compliance and financial oversight practices align with nonprofit best practices promoted by organizations like Independent Sector and reporting standards familiar to auditors like KPMG and Deloitte.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:Affordable housing in the United States