Young Pacific Leaders - Academy for Women Entrepreneurs | PAS NEWZEALAND 2024 09

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAS NEWZEALAND 2024 09

The Young Pacific Leaders - Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) opportunity is a U.S. Department of State grant competition run through the U.S. Embassy New Zealand Public Diplomacy Section. The grant supports an implementing partner to deliver an AWE cohort aimed at strengthening womens social and economic empowerment by helping women entrepreneurs launch, stabilize, or grow businesses. The program is intended to align with broader U.S. priorities on gender equity and equality by expanding womens practical ability to participate in the economy through skills, networks, and mentorship.

This funding is offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning the U.S. government typically expects an active partnership role during planning and implementation rather than a purely hands-off grant. The funding activity category is listed as community development, and the CFDA number provided is 19.040. The opportunity anticipates making one award with a maximum budget (award ceiling) of $20,000. The original application deadline listed is July 31, 2024, and the project itself is expected to run a cohort sometime during 2025 to 2026, depending on the availability of funds.

The core program model centers on running a cohort of about 30 women entrepreneurs who participate either online, in person, or through a blended format. Participants build foundational business competencies such as strategic planning, marketing, finance, pricing, and basic bookkeeping, and they are expected to engage in discussion and practical application with local facilitators, business leaders, and mentors, including U.S. exchange alumni where available. AWE was launched in 2019 and is designed to pair structured coursework with community-based guidance so participants can translate lessons into an actionable business plan and concrete next steps for their enterprises.

A key requirement is that proposals must use one of two approved curricula. Implementers may use DreamBuilder, a no-cost online platform developed with Arizona State Universitys Thunderbird School of Global Management and supported by the Freeport-McMoran Foundation. DreamBuilder is presented from a U.S. small-business perspective and includes learning modules plus a built-in business plan generator, but it is only available in English and Spanish (even though mentoring and facilitation can be conducted in local languages). As an alternative, implementing partners may use the Najafi 100 Million Learners Global Initiative curriculum, either alongside DreamBuilder or instead of it. The 100 Million Learners Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Bootcamp is positioned as more challenging or as a way to add complementary content on entrepreneurship and innovation, and it is available in about 20 languages with more planned, which can be especially relevant in multilingual Pacific contexts.

Geographically, the cohort can be hosted in any or all of a set of eligible locations across the Pacific, giving implementers flexibility to focus on one country or build a regional approach. The listed locations include New Zealand, Niue, the Cook Islands, Tokelau, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The opportunity therefore supports both local and cross-border program designs, as long as the cohort size and curriculum requirements are met.

Eligibility to apply is broad and includes public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, and individuals. In practical terms, competitive applicants are likely to be organizations (or teams) that can recruit participants, deliver training and facilitation, coordinate mentors and guest speakers, and track participant progress over the cohort period, all while aligning activities with the AWE model and the required curriculum platform.

• The U.S. Mission to New Zealand in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Young Pacific Leaders - Academy for Women Entrepreneurs" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-31. (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 $20,000.00 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, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals.

Apply for PAS NEWZEALAND 2024 09

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