U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia: Seeking Applications for Saudi Young Leaders Exchange Program

Deadline: 20 August 2017

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh is seeking applications for its “Saudi Young Leaders Exchange Program (SYLEP)” to build leadership, civic responsibility, respect for diversity, and community engagement among Saudi university students through a three-week summer exchange.

Program Goals

The goals of the program are to:

• Promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Saudi Arabia.
• Prepare youth leaders to become involved in sowing the seeds of tolerance and crosscultural understanding in their own communities.
• Inspire youth leaders to become actively engaged in social entrepreneurship programs that help their community.
• Teach students techniques for conflict analysis and resolution.

Program Objectives

The program objectives are for participants to:

• Demonstrate a better understanding of civic engagement as practiced in the United States;
• Demonstrate critical thinking and leadership skills; and,
• Demonstrate skill at developing project ideas and planning a course of action to bring the projects to fruition.

Program Themes

The primary program themes, including illustrative examples, are listed below:

• Respect for Diversity and Tolerance (ethnicity, race, gender, religion, geographic location, socio-economic status, and disabilities).
• Community Engagement, (citizen participation and diplomacy, social responsibility and volunteerism).

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding:

• Award Ceiling: $250,000
• Award Floor: $200,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants should propose to implement a three-week U.S.-based exchange for 30 to 34 undergraduate Saudi students. Applicants may propose a plan to break the delegation into smaller cohorts for some of the exchange activities. This is to ensure all participants benefit from exchange activities and to increase the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation, including the participants’ safety and well-being while on the U.S.-based program.
• Participants will be undergraduate students in their first through third years of university, who have demonstrated leadership abilities in their schools and/or communities, are able to demonstrate fluency in English, and are Saudi citizens residing in Saudi Arabia.
• Applications may be submitted by public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501 (c) (3).
• Applicants are not required to include cost sharing. However, applications that include cost sharing from non-U.S. Government sources will be more competitive, and applicants are encouraged to provide the highest levels of cost sharing possible.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online via given website.

For more information, please visit Grants.gov.