Deadline: 21 December 2016
The Stevens Initiative is an international effort to expand access to virtual exchange in order to build global competence for young people in the United States and the Middle East and North Africa.
The Initiative is housed at the Aspen Institute and is a public-private partnership of the family of Ambassador Stevens, the U.S. Department of State, the Bezos Family Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, LRNG, Vidyo, Twitter, Microsoft, and the governments of Algeria, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.
Through direct support for virtual exchange programs and through other field building activities, the Stevens Initiative seeks to: raise awareness and demand; establish a shared understanding of intended outcomes and key progress indicators; provide access for young people who would not otherwise be able to participate in international exchange; and increase sustainability, affordability, and ownership across involved communities.
Priority Areas
The Stevens Initiative has several priorities for funding. Applicants are strongly encouraged to demonstrate how their proposed programs contribute to one or more of the following priorities:
- Programs focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM): Science, technology, engineering, and math are widely recognized as particularly important for young people around the world seeking to participate in the global economy. They provide a strong basis for international communication by inviting hands-on learning, collaboration and problem solving. They are particularly relevant in the Middle East and North Africa, where there is a shortage of candidates with STEM skills.
- Programs that use project-based learning: A method that develops skills and understanding by exploring real-world problems – as a way to promote collaborative learning.
- Programs that serve refugees: Refugees from the Middle East and North Africa face challenges to continue their education, to acquire skills they need in new environments, and to demonstrate their credentials without access to degrees. Technology and virtual exchange in particular, has the potential to fill gaps in education for refugee youth, particularly those from Syria. The Stevens Initiative seeks to support virtual exchange programs that give refugees access to online education that provides training in high-need subjects, connects them with peers in the United States, and provides evidence of completion.
- Programs that use innovative methodologies as part of or in conjunction with the virtual exchange, such as but not limited to one of the following:
- Virtual reality and immersive experiences;
- Use of mobile platforms;
- Video games;
- Programs that use language other than English as the primary language (Arabic, French, and others) or use automated translation;
- Programs that connect people from more than two countries.
- Programs that include in-person exchanges as a complement to the participants’ virtual exchange activities. This could include students and/or educators, including train-the-trainers programming.
Benefits
The following list includes examples of allowable expenses:
- Salary and fringe benefits
- Travel (including regional travel for staff of in-country partners to conduct trainings/manage activities in neighboring countries)
- Stipends or other benefits for U.S. and overseas teachers directly involved in the program
- Honoraria
- Educational materials
- Training modules (including expenses related to any in-person training)
- Curriculum Development/Integration
- Online Professional Development
- Software or supplies such as digital cameras, flip-cams, webcams, etc. to support online project work. Applicants should primarily seek out donations or acquisition of supplies through outside sources
- Internet access fees
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Communications support, including website development, promotional or outreach materials and activities
- Other direct costs directly related to program activities
- Indirect costs
- Administrative expenses: The award funds may be used to pay reasonable costs for program administration, technical support, and other administrative needs. Cost sharing in these areas is strongly encouraged. Internet access fees may only be included on a limited basis and should be justified within the proposal.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applying organizations may be based in the United States, Middle East, or North Africa. Applying organizations may be based in other regions if the proposed program serves refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.
- Applicants based in the United States must be tax-exempt non-profit organizations, including educational institutions. U.S. applicants in the process of registration must submit proof that they are seeking non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service at the time of submission. Should the applicant be selected for an award, funding will be contingent on the organization receiving tax exempt status. Award recipients must be registered to conduct proposed activities in the countries where the activities would take place, if applicable.
- Applicants based in the Middle East or North Africa must be non-profit organizations, including educational institutions, that can demonstrate current country registration in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, or Yemen.
- Public International Organizations (PIOs) and For-Profit Organizations are not eligible to apply, though they may be included as sub-awardees or contract recipients. Staff should be proficient in English, able to file reports and conduct evaluations in English as well as in Arabic or French as appropriate.
- Organizations may request between $20,000 and $700,000. The award amount requested may not be more than 40% of the applying organization’s FY 2015 annual operating budget. In all cases, organizations should demonstrate their capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate programs of the scale they propose.
- Activities may be conducted in the United States and in the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Programs involving refugees from these countries who are currently in countries not listed above are also eligible.
- Participants should be young people in the age range that corresponds to the middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate education levels. Also included as participants are the educators, facilitators, or group leaders who work with them.
How to Apply
Applicants must use the online submission system available on the given website to submit the letter of interest.
For more information, please visit Stevens Initiative.