Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0009212
The FY 2023 BridgeUSA Africa Polytechnic Collaboration Initiative is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) grant opportunity administered through the Office of Private Sector Exchange (BridgeUSA). It is structured as a discretionary cooperative agreement, meaning the award recipient would not simply receive funds and operate independently; instead, the recipient would be expected to work closely with ECA/BridgeUSA throughout planning and implementation. The overarching purpose is to use BridgeUSA (the Department of State J-1 Exchange Visitor Program) as a platform to strengthen practical, polytechnic-style collaboration between the United States and East Africa by supporting short-term educational and professional exchanges that can translate into sustained institutional partnerships.
Under this competition, a single U.S. awardee will be selected (expected awards: 1) with an award ceiling of $100,000 to administer approximately 20 scholarships for scholars and professionals from East Africa. Participants are intended to be evenly distributed across the participating countries that are ultimately selected for the cohort. The scholarships are specifically designed to remove common financial barriers to exchange participation by covering BridgeUSA program fees, healthcare benefits coverage, visa fees, SEVIS fees, and round-trip airfare. The full program is expected to be carried out over a 36-month period, which implies an emphasis not only on sending participants to the United States, but also on recruitment, selection, placement logistics, participant support, compliance and monitoring, and follow-on activities that help maintain relationships and outcomes beyond the initial exchange period.
The initiative is framed as a pilot focused on East Africa, including island states along Africa's east coast. The countries listed as the initial focus are: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Applicant proposals must cover at least five countries from this list, while noting that the final selection of participating countries will be determined by the ECA program office in coordination with the relevant regional bureau. Proposals also need to align with eligible J-1 categories referenced in the full announcement (Section C.2.1), which signals that applicants must build an implementation model consistent with J-1 regulatory requirements and the specific exchange visitor categories permitted under the program design.
From a program goals standpoint, ECA positions this initiative as serving several connected aims. First, it advances ECA's broader mission of promoting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries by facilitating direct collaboration between emerging leaders and U.S. counterparts. Second, it aims to create lasting partnerships, particularly between U.S. community colleges/universities (including consortia) and East African institutions or professional ecosystems, with a practical emphasis consistent with a polytechnic approach (skills, applied learning, and problem-solving collaboration). Third, it emphasizes shared work on pressing local and global challenges by enabling exchange visitors to bring ideas, approaches, and strategies into joint projects and professional networks. Finally, the announcement explicitly notes an intent to address foreign malign influence in the higher education space in the region, indicating that program activities and partnerships are expected to support transparent, values-aligned academic and professional collaboration and strengthen the resilience and integrity of higher education engagement.
Eligible applicants include U.S. public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and U.S. nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status. The opportunity also allows organizations representing consortia or other combinations of accredited U.S. community colleges and universities to apply, but with a key limitation: each eligible organization may submit only one proposal. The funding opportunity number is SFOP0009212 and the CFDA/assistance listing number is 19.451. The announcement was created on September 30, 2022, with an original closing date of November 28, 2022, which is important for understanding the application timeline and whether the competition is still active or is presented here for informational or planning purposes.
In practical terms, a strong application under this opportunity would be expected to show how the applicant will recruit and select approximately 20 qualified scholars and professionals across at least five eligible East African countries; place and support them in compliant J-1 exchange activities under the eligible categories; manage the covered costs (program fees, insurance/healthcare coverage, visa and SEVIS fees, airfare); and design programming that produces durable collaboration outcomes between participants, U.S. host institutions/organizations, and counterparts in the participants' home countries. The cooperative agreement format also implies that the proposal should demonstrate capacity for close coordination with BridgeUSA, robust participant support and monitoring, and a clear plan for sustaining partnerships and measurable results over the 36-month implementation window.Apply for SFOP0009212
- 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 2023 BridgeUSA Africa Polytechnic Collaboration Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.451.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 30, 2022.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 28, 2022. (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 $100,000.00 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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