Deadline: 28-Nov-22
The Office of Private Sector Exchange (BridgeUSA) of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for the administration of the BridgeUSA Journalism and Rule of Law Scholarship (JROL) Program.
Purpose
In order to enhance the U.S. Department of State’s engagement with BridgeUSA exchange visitors in support of U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy objectives, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA), Private Sector Exchange Directorate (BridgeUSA), will issue a cooperative agreement for $100,000, pending the availability of funds, to implement the BridgeUSA JROL Scholarship Program over 36 months. One of the most effective ways to combat disinformation about the United States and democracy is to provide people with a new cognitive framework for seeing the United States and understanding democracy and that can only happen via first-hand experience. This is an opportunity for foreign university students and professionals to travel to the United States for longer periods of time so they can better understand the United States and Americans. The JROL Scholarship Program is a unique opportunity where students and professionals can experience first-hand American culture and traditions. BridgeUSA JROL exchange visitors will collaborate with Americans on various topics including countering regional instability, transnational crime, and violence that threaten U.S. interests by strengthening citizen-responsive governance, security, democracy, and the rule of law.
Goals
- BridgeUSA programs enable foreign nationals to come to the United States to teach, Study, conduct research, demonstrate special skills, or receive on the job training for periods ranging from a few weeks to several years. BridgeUSA’s mission – to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries – remains vital to U.S. national security and building people-to-people connections around the world. Through the JROL Scholarship Program, BridgeUSA aims to:
- Promote mutual understanding and lasting partnerships between emerging leaders from foreign countries and the United States;
- Provide opportunities for BridgeUSA program exchange visitors to collaborate and share ideas, approaches, and strategies to develop solutions to pressing local and global challenges;
- Increase Americans’ global competitiveness through new and expanded partnerships with BridgeUSA alumni professionals from around the world;
- Create resilient communities and address disinformation by supporting civil society, open transparent institutions, global health, climate change, diversity and inclusion, and human rights; and
- Build a global network of like-minded professionals committed to creating positive change in their workplaces and communities.
Thematical Focus
- Proposals must address only the combination of eligible J1 categories and themes. ECA reserves the right to add or remove eligible countries and/or regions prior to the issuance of the award.
- The BridgeUSA award recipient will have the primary responsibility for recruitment and selection of a diverse group of exchange visitors under the Trainee, Intern, and Specialist categories. BridgeUSA JROL scholarship selection should seek a balance of exchange visitors across the following academic or professional backgrounds. Exchange visitors may come from any of these three backgrounds but should be able to demonstrate a clear nexus to journalism and/or rule of law in their intern/trainee/specialist exchange program:
- Media and Communications: Scholarships should support students studying and/or professionals involved in print and broadcast media and journalism; social or transmedia; press relations; public relations; public affairs; and communications. Proposals submitted under this theme might include an emphasis on freedom of the press; ethical journalism, countering disinformation and misinformation; audience engagement, media entrepreneurship, creating compelling narratives and storytelling; and new trends in digital media and communications.
- Governance and Rule of Law: Scholarships should support students studying and/or professionals involved in the judicial sector with an emphasis on rule of law and legislative process; law and judicial reform; human rights and access to justice; civil liberties, anti-corruption; transparency and accountability governance.
- Public administration and policy making: Scholarships should support students studying and/or professionals involved in public administration and policy making political campaigns; conflict mitigation and peacebuilding; human rights and access to justice; inclusive and sustainable development; relationship between the public sector and broader society.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $100,000
- Award Floor: $100,000
- Anticipated Project Completion Date: January 1, 2026.
Eligible Activities
The BridgeUSA JROL Scholarship Program will facilitate exchanges for foreign university students and professionals in the Intern, Trainee, and Specialist categories. Exchange visitors would qualify through their field of study or profession. For example, an exchange visitor in the Intern category might be a law or journalism student, while a Trainee or Specialist might be a professional in the fields of law or journalism. The proposal should describe in detail the proposed activities for the JROL program including how the program will:
- Enhance skills management, technical, and thematic training in the fields of law, and information media and communications;
- Improve the presenting, writing, and/or translation skills of exchange visitors for broadcasting to foreign audiences;
- Enable recent law graduates to gain experience with the U.S. legal system;
- Improve exchange visitors’ understanding of U.S. law and court proceeding, e.g., through attending public court hearings and/or conducting research on U.S. court systems;
- Expose exchange visitors to the latest methods in technology and practical journalism skills that will enhance the broadcasting quality at their local stations;
- Train foreign exchange visitors on the latest management and advertising practices that will help them improve the financial viability of their organizations upon return;
- Facilitate networking for exchange visitors with U.S. organizations outside their host organizations (for example, other media companies and tech platforms);
- Ensure that host organizations support exchange visitors in practical skill building such as writing stories, conducting research, and/or contributing to open-source media platforms.
Eligible Countries
- Under this NOFO, a single award will be issued for the following countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
- 20 exchange visitors must be selected from across the region, with at least five countries represented among the exchange visitors.
Eligibility Criteria
- U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other notfor-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.
- All applicants must also have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and be registered in SAM.gov
- Other Eligibility Requirements
- The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
- All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO, POGI (if applicable), and the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI); non-compliance will result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
- For this program:
- 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.
- Please note: Applicant organizations are defined by their legal name, and EIN number as stated on their completed SF-424 and additional supporting documentation outlined in the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) document.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=343835