Call for Proposals: TechWomen Program 2024

Deadline: 6-Oct-23

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Global Leaders Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) invites proposals submissions for the FY 2024 TechWomen program to empower, connect, and support the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The exchange program uses a mentorship model to support emerging STEM leaders from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Organizations applying for this federal award should demonstrate the capacity to recruit, select, and place in mentorship experiences a total of approximately 100-110 women from select countries in these regions to participate in a five- to six-week intensive peer-mentoring program in the United States. The mentoring experience should focus on advancing the status of professional women in STEM industries through project-based peer mentorships, skill building, networking opportunities, and enhancement activities. Funding will also support follow-on activities in the participants’ home countries that inspire and encourage girls and university-age women interested or working in STEM-based careers, engage young women using technology in their professions, and support former participants of the program (“alumnae”).

Goals

The overall goals of the program are to:

• Empower emerging leaders to advocate for their rights and reach their full potential in the science and technology industries;
• Create and maintain a sustainable professional network of support for women in STEM industries in the United States and participating countries;
• Develop the field of technology, explore the role of the tech industry in economic stability, increase the trade capacity of the participating countries, and promote economic advancement;
• Build an understanding of technology’s integral relationship with the professional world and increase participants’ understanding of how Americans drive development in science and technology;
• Enhance U.S. science and technology companies’ understanding of challenges in other countries, providing them opportunities to hear first-hand from the international participants about the STEM and market climates overseas;
• Provide women in STEM industries with tools not only to advance their careers and encourage innovation, but also to become role models for women and girls in their communities;
• Expand girls’ interest in STEM careers by exposing them to female role models; and
• Increase mutual understanding between key networks of professionals in different parts of the world.

Funding Information

• Approximate Total Funding: $3,930,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Approximate Number of Awards: One.
• Approximate Average Award: $3,930,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Minimum “Floor” of Award: $3,930,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Maximum “Ceiling” of Award: $3,930,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Anticipated Award Date: January 5, 2024, pending the availability of funds.
• Anticipated Project Completion Date: May 30, 2026.

Eligible Countries and Participants

• Europe (EUR): Albania and Montenegro
• Sub-Saharan Africa (AF): Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
• South and Central Asia (SCA): Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
• Middle East and North Africa (NEA): Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, and Tunisia
• Participants must be women residing in the above countries/territories who are engaged in professional careers that require significant STEM expertise/knowledge and/or innovative application of these skills, and who already are, or show promise of being, role models for others in their countries, particularly for women. “STEM” should be interpreted broadly to include – but not be limited to – the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, education, and business with STEM components. Participants must have at least two years of work experience in a field that explicitly and directly involves and applies science, technology, engineering, or mathematics in meeting professional goals. All participants must be proficient in written and spoken English.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants
  • U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other not for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
• The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
  • ECA’s grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in ECA funding. ECA anticipates making one cooperative agreement, in an amount of $3,930,000 to support all costs required to implement this exchange program. Therefore, organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.
  • All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO, and the PSI; non-compliance will result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
  • Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.