Deadline: 14-Mar-22
The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has announced an open competition for the FY 2022 Youth Ambassadors Program.
The Youth Ambassadors program directly supports the U.S. foreign policy goal of youth empowerment and development by equipping exchange participants with the knowledge and skills to become active and responsible members of their communities.
The program will build mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect through shared culture and values; empower participants to be actively engaged in addressing issues of concern in their schools and communities upon their return home; and foster relationships among youth from different ethnic, religious, and national groups.
The Youth Ambassadors program provides participants with a comprehensive survey of civic education, community service, and youth leadership development, building their knowledge and skill levels in these areas and supporting them to become active and responsible members of their communities. The program includes a three-week exchange for high school youth (ages 15- 18 at the start of the program) from underserved communities and adult educators focused on themes and subthemes such as social inclusion, entrepreneurship, countering disinformation, and environmental protection. Participants engage in a variety of activities such as workshops on leadership and service, community site visits related to the program themes and subthemes, interactive training, presentations, visits to high schools, local cultural activities, homestays, civic education programming in Washington, D.C., or the capital city of the partner country, and other activities designed to achieve the program’s stated goals.
Goals
The program goals are to:
- Promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and citizens of Western Hemisphere countries;
- Prepare youth leaders to become responsible citizens and contributing members of their communities;
- Foster future leaders by providing them a better understanding of the U.S. systems, culture, and government; and
- Cultivate relationships among youth from different ethnic, racial, religious, and national groups and create hemispheric networks of youth leaders, both within the participating countries and internationally.
Objectives
The program objectives are for participants to:
- Demonstrate a better understanding of the elements of a participatory democracy in action;
- Deepen critical thinking and leadership skills; and
- Develop program planning and implementation skills
Themes
The primary program themes are:
- Civic Education (Citizen Participation, Grassroots Democracy and Rule of Law)
- Community Service
- Youth Leadership Development
There will be several exchanges, some of them reciprocal. Exchanges will be divided into either single country or multi-country programs; they should be organized as follows:
- Single Country Programs:
- Brazil: There will be one reciprocal exchange for English-speaking participants from Brazil and the United States.
- Canada: There will be one exchange program conducted in English for Canadian citizens with a subtheme of social inclusion. Approximately 15 participants (13 youth and 2 adults) will travel to the United States in summer 2023. Recruitment must focus on new Canadians (first generation Canadians and Canadians born outside Canada), and members of the First Nations, and marginalized populations.
- Haiti: There will be one exchange program conducted in French for Haitian citizens. Approximately 15 participants (13 youth and 2 adults) from Haiti will travel to the United States in 2023. Participants will not need English skills to participate and applicants should propose programming in French and provide for interpretation.
- Regional/Multi-Country Programs:
- Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela: There will be reciprocal exchanges in English for participants from the countries and the United States. Participants from nine South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Venezuela) will travel to the United States and U.S. participants will travel to selected countries from this list.
- Central America and the Dominican Republic: There will be three exchanges for seven Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. Participants from Central America and the Dominican Republic will travel to the United States and U.S. participants will travel to select countries in the region. Approximately 10 participants from each country (Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), 80 total, will travel to the United States.
- Caribbean: The Caribbean program is one exchange conducted in English for approximately 42 participants selected from the region (the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago and other smaller Caribbean countries served by Embassy Bridgetown). Please note that Embassy Bridgetown (Barbados) serves several eastern Caribbean countries and the participants Embassy Bridgetown selects may come from any of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and/or St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Funding Information
- Fiscal Year Funds: FY 2022-$3,400,000; FY 2023- NCC year one-$3,400,000, pending successful performance and the availability of funds; FY 2024-NCC year two-$3,400,000, pending successful performance and the availability of funds.
- Approximate Total Funding: $10,200,000. This figure represents base year plus two NCC years, pending successful performance and the availability of funds.
- Approximate Average Award: $3,400,000
- Ceiling of Award Range: $3,400,000
- Anticipated Award Date: August 1, 2022
- Anticipated Project Completion Date: April 30, 2026.
Eligibility Criteria
- U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange of-persons, and other not-for-profit organizations meeting the provisions 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:
- Bureau grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in Bureau funding. ECA anticipates making cooperative agreement, in an amount of over $130,000 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, 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.
- Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization.
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=336879