Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0007908
The FY 2021 J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (Stevens Initiative) is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) grant opportunity focused on expanding and professionalizing virtual exchange between young people in the United States and the Middle East and North Africa (NEA). The Initiative, created in partnership with the Stevens Family Foundation, is positioned as a long-term tribute to Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and is designed to strengthen people-to-people ties through technology-enabled educational programming. At its core, the program uses structured, facilitated online engagement to build mutual understanding and help youth develop practical 21st-century skills, with an overarching vision of reaching more than one million young people over time.
This opportunity is not for an organization to run exchange sessions directly. Instead, ECA is seeking a single "Managing Partner" that will manage and coordinate the overall Stevens Initiative ecosystem. The selected recipient will receive one cooperative agreement, with an award ceiling of $5,000,000 and an expectation of one award total. As a cooperative agreement, the project is intended to involve substantial federal involvement and collaboration during implementation, meaning the Managing Partner should be prepared to work closely with ECA on priorities, performance, and oversight.
A major responsibility of the Managing Partner is to design and operate transparent, merit-based subaward competitions. Through those subawards, U.S.- and NEA-based organizations would be funded to administer individual virtual and blended exchange projects (blended meaning a combination of virtual and physical components). The Managing Partner acts as the hub that makes these project grants possible and coherent under one brand, ensuring consistency in standards, partner coordination, reporting, and overall direction. In practice, that means the recipient would build the processes and infrastructure for soliciting proposals, selecting subrecipients fairly, monitoring implementation, ensuring compliance, and aggregating results across many different exchange projects operating in parallel.
Beyond grants management, the opportunity emphasizes coordination, collaboration, and learning across the broader Stevens Initiative partnership. The Managing Partner is expected to facilitate ongoing collaboration among Initiative partners, which typically includes aligning stakeholders around shared goals, supporting communities of practice, and making sure funded projects benefit from shared tools and lessons learned. Another key function is research and evaluation: the recipient is expected to conduct or commission evaluations and analysis of activities carried out under the Stevens Initiative umbrella, using findings to demonstrate impact and improve program quality over time. The Managing Partner would also be responsible for coordinating and reporting on activities conducted under the Stevens Initiative brand, effectively serving as the central point for performance reporting, storytelling, and accountability.
The opportunity reflects an established program with a track record that applicants can build on. Since its launch in 2015, the Stevens Initiative has supported more than 63 projects and engaged nearly 70,000 participants across 17 NEA countries and the Palestinian Territories. U.S. participation has been broad as well, including participants from 47 states plus Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Washington, D.C., and one tribal community. That history signals that ECA is looking for an organization capable of operating at scale, managing multiple stakeholders across regions, and maintaining consistent program quality across diverse implementers.
Administratively, the grant is listed under Funding Opportunity Number SFOP0007908 and CFDA (now Assistance Listing) 19.415. It is categorized as a discretionary opportunity and uses a cooperative agreement funding instrument. The eligible applicant pool includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and U.S. nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status, along with additional eligible applicants as described in the full announcement. The opportunity was posted April 5, 2021, with an original closing date of June 3, 2021.Apply for SFOP0007908
- The Department of State, Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2021 J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (Stevens Initiative)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.415.
- This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2021.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 03, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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