Deadline: 06-May-24
The Global Leaders Division, Office of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) invites proposal submissions for one cooperative agreement to design, administer, and implement the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellows Program.
The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program will bring a minimum of 320 emerging leaders, ages 25-35, from Southeast Asia to the United States to participate in leadership and professional development activities under the themes of Civic Engagement; Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment; Society and Governance; and Sustainability and the Environment. The U.S.-based exchange component will be five to six weeks in duration and consist of: 1) Professional Fellowship Institutes (“Institute”) related to each of the program themes which feature individually tailored fellowship placements at relevant U.S. non-profit, public, or private sector organizations; and 2) a program closing conference called the YSEALI Fellows Forum in Washington, DC. Upon the conclusion of the U.S.-based exchange program, a minimum of 80 American participants will travel overseas for minimum one-week reciprocal exchanges to assist the Southeast Asian Fellows in implementing action plans in their local communities. The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program will also include follow-on alumni engagement activities.
The award recipient will be responsible for program planning and implementation, including the oversight and coordination of the eight Institutes under the YSEALI themes. One Institute under each of the four themes (a total of four) will take place in the Spring of 2025, with the remaining four Institutes occurring in the Fall of 2025. The recipient must also be committed to collaborating with ECA to support the Fellow’s participation in broader YSEALI activities/events during the program lifecycle, including joint activities with ECA’s YSEALI Academic Fellows Program.
Purpose
- YSEALI is designed to strengthen leadership development across Southeast Asia, deepen engagement with young leaders on key regional and global challenges, and strengthen peopleto-people ties between the United States and Southeast Asia. YSEALI, which began in 2013, is a broad U.S. government initiative with a range of components that include educational exchanges, professional skills-building workshops in the region, online networking, project seed money, and professional seminars at the YSEALI Academy at Fulbright University Vietnam.
- The Professional Fellowship component of YSEALI is targeted at emerging young professionals within Southeast Asia. Through individually tailored, four-week fellowships designed to broaden their professional expertise and enhance their leadership capabilities, the participants are provided an opportunity to gain first-hand experiences in, and exposure to, U.S. public and private sector organizations working in the areas of Civic Engagement; Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment; Society and Governance; and Sustainability and the Environment.
- The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program supports the following broad goals:
- Promote mutual understanding and lasting partnerships between emerging leaders from Southeast Asia and the United States;
- Provide opportunities for participants 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 professionals from Southeast Asia;
- Create resilient communities and address disinformation by supporting civil society, inclusive economic development, open and transparent institutions, and human rights; and
- Build a global network of like-minded professionals committed to creating positive change in their workplaces and communities.
Funding Information
- Fiscal Year Funds: FY 2024 base year, up to $11,000,000, pending the availability of funds; FY 2025 NCC year one, up to $8,000,000, pending successful performance and the availability of funds; FY 2026 NCC year two, up to $8,000,000 pending successful performance and the availability of funds.
- Approximate Total Funding: $27,000,000 This figure represents base year plus two NonCompetitive Continuation years, pending successful performance and the availability of funds.
- Approximate Number of Awards: One award.
- Approximate Average Award: $11,000,000
- Minimum “Floor” of Award: $8,000,000
- Maximum “Ceiling” of Award: $11,000,000
- Anticipated Project Completion Date: June 13, 2029. This date reflects the anticipated duration of the award – one base year plus two NCC years.
Professional Fellow Institute Themes
- Institute themes for this award are:
- The Professional Fellows Institute on Civic Engagement should provide YSEALI Fellows with an opportunity to explore how individuals can organize around community issues. The Civic Engagement Institute should support professionals involved in nongovernmental management; community development; advocacy; education; journalism; law; youth initiatives; and the empowerment of women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, and marginalized populations. Institutes under this theme may include an emphasis on: NGO management; staff training and development; volunteer management; conducting community outreach and public relations; creating strategic partnerships and coalition building; conflict resolution and tolerance; and education programs.
- The Professional Fellows Institute on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment should provide YSEALI Fellows with an opportunity to explore how systems can support sustainable economic development. This Institute should support professionals involved in small and medium business development; business administration; business education; economic development policy, social entrepreneurship, and community training programs. Institutes under this theme may include an emphasis on: starting or growing small businesses; community-based and educational training programs; emerging technologies; global competency and employment readiness; the role of government in promoting economic growth; sustainable economic development; education to employment; and the economic empowerment of women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, and marginalized populations.
- The Professional Fellows Institute on Society and Governance should provide YSEALI Fellows with an opportunity to explore the relationship between the public sector and broader society. This Institute should support professionals involved in the legislative process; governance; public administration; policy making; political campaigns; and law and judicial reform. Institutes under this theme may include an emphasis on: rule of law; access to justice; civil liberties, anti-corruption; and transparency and accountability.
- The Professional Fellows Institute on Sustainability and the Environment should provide YSEALI Fellows with an opportunity to explore public and private sector approaches to environmental challenges. This Institute should support professionals involved in food and water security; public health; ecotourism, the innovative development and management of agricultural, energy, housing and/or transportation resources; natural disaster response; natural resource conservation and restoration; and waste management. Institutes under this theme may include an emphasis on: grassroots activism; government policy and regulation; public-private sector partnerships, and market-oriented initiatives.
Participants
- Program participants are those individuals who travel under cooperative agreement funding from their country of origin to a designated exchange country. In this NOFO, non-U.S. participants are referred to as YSEALI Fellows and Americans traveling on reciprocal exchanges are referred to as U.S. Fellows. Employees of the U.S. Department of State, the recipient, subaward recipients, and/or contractors are not eligible to participate in the YSEALI Professional Fellows Program and cannot be included as program participants.
Participating Countries
- The participating countries are: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. ECA reserves the right to modify the list of participating countries under the FY 2024 cooperative agreement.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Applicants: 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. Please see the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) for additional information.
- Cost Sharing or Matching Funds: There is no minimum or maximum percentage of cost sharing required for this competition. However, ECA encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of cost sharing and funding in support of its programs. When cost sharing is offered, it is understood and agreed that the applicant must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in its proposal and later included in an approved agreement.
- All organizations are required to have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement from the U.S. Government.
For more information, visit ECA.