YSEALI 10 - Seeds for the Future | PAS USASEAN FY23 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAS USASEAN FY23 01

The YSEALI 10 - Seeds for the Future opportunity is a U.S. Mission to ASEAN (USASEAN) cooperative agreement designed to fund and run a small grants competition for young leaders in Southeast Asia. Under this program, one selected organization will administer an open, region-wide competition and then issue subgrants of up to USD 15,000 each to support as many as 25 youth-led public service projects. These projects must be implemented by teams from the 11 YSEALI countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. The overall intent is to help emerging leaders turn community-focused ideas into measurable results while strengthening regional connections among youth who share common challenges.

The program sits under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), the U.S. government initiative that builds networks and leadership capacity among Southeast Asians ages 18 to 35 who are citizens and residents of eligible ASEAN countries or Timor-Leste. Seeds for the Future specifically responds to priorities raised by youth in the region by funding practical community projects aligned to one or more of YSEALI's four core themes: Civic Engagement; Economic Empowerment and Social Entrepreneurship; Education; and Environmental Issues. Since 2015, Seeds for the Future has distributed more than USD 2.5 million across ASEAN, and the 2024 cycle is positioned as a milestone round because it coincides with the 10th anniversary of YSEALI and the 10th iteration of the Seeds program. Applicants to manage the program are expected to incorporate special, creative elements that highlight these anniversaries and the growing YSEALI alumni base.

The organization selected for the cooperative agreement will function as the program manager and will work closely with USASEAN and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Office of Public Diplomacy. Core responsibilities start with building or providing an online application intake and management system (without launching a brand-new event-specific website) and running applicant support, including answering questions and offering virtual resources like webinars to improve proposal quality. The manager will collaborate with USASEAN to create scoring criteria, review and score submissions, and provide a shortlist of up to 40 projects, with USASEAN playing a substantial role in final selections and notifications of winning teams.

A major deliverable is a two- to three-day in-person kick-off workshop in early 2024 for all selected project teams, with up to three participants per project. The managing organization must handle all programming and logistics, including flights, lodging, per diem, venue costs, and trainer expenses, all covered within the main award budget. The workshop is intended to set teams up for success by training them on grant administration and compliance expectations such as budgeting, reporting, communications, work planning, and digital storytelling, while also giving teams space to refine their implementation plans and collaborate with one another. The program also expects involvement from the ASEAN Secretariat, so funds should be reserved to support an ASEAN Secretariat representative attending if available. Workshop speakers, facilitators, and mentors must be citizens of the United States, an ASEAN member country, or Timor-Leste, and the recipient is expected to produce supporting materials such as a syllabus, event program, biographies, and physical branding items like banners and backdrops.

After selection and training, the program manager must provide ongoing support and oversight for nine-month projects implemented roughly from February through October 2024. Each team should be matched with a mentor to guide implementation, and the manager must maintain active monitoring, including at least weekly communication with subgrantees, tracking budget usage, and collecting required reports (monthly updates plus mid-term and final reports). Subgrant disbursement is structured in tranches tied to deliverables: 60 percent after submission of a detailed timeline and work plan (including a marketing strategy), 35 percent after a mid-term report with qualitative and quantitative metrics, and the final 5 percent after a complete final report detailing results. The manager must also provide USASEAN with quarterly and final programmatic and financial reports that synthesize progress across all projects, highlight milestones and challenges, and present both qualitative and quantitative evidence of community impact.

Communications and visibility are a central part of the award. The managing organization must run a robust media and social media plan that gathers project stories and high-quality photos and videos for amplification through YSEALI platforms, while complying with Department of State and YSEALI branding requirements (including proper use of the U.S. flag and YSEALI Seeds logo). Proposals are expected to include explicit plans to promote the program in local and regional media with an emphasis on the dual 10th anniversaries, as well as a digital engagement strategy that may include live video or live online engagement during key moments. In addition to the kick-off workshop, the program must include continued virtual engagement opportunities at least once every two months to keep grantees connected, learning from each other, and supported as they navigate implementation challenges.

The funder also lays out several monitoring and evaluation expectations. The program design should include pre- and post-workshop surveys to measure learning and workshop effectiveness, and follow-on activities (such as continued mentorship or structured virtual collaboration) should be built into the monitoring and evaluation plan. Across the program, the themes of leadership development, giving back through public service, and strengthening a shared Southeast Asian/ASEAN identity grounded in shared values and challenges should be intentionally integrated. Finally, the recipient must produce a "lessons learned" output to inform future Seeds for the Future cycles, capturing what worked, what did not, and what could be improved in areas like selection, training, mentoring, reporting, and storytelling.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary cooperative agreement (meaning the U.S. government expects to be substantially involved during implementation). The award ceiling is USD 300,000, with a period of performance of no more than 16 months. The anticipated timeline begins with competition design, application launch, selection, and workshop preparation from October to December 2023, followed by the in-person kick-off within the first three months of 2024, project implementation from February to October 2024, and final reporting and closeout in November to December 2024, with flexibility required if regional or global circumstances force schedule changes. Eligible applicants include U.S. and foreign public or private educational institutions, and U.S. and foreign not-for-profit organizations (including think tanks). The opportunity was issued by the U.S. Mission to ASEAN under Funding Opportunity Number PAS USASEAN FY23 01, with an original closing date of 2023-07-21.

• The U.S. Mission to ASEAN in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "YSEALI 10 - Seeds for the Future" 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 2023-06-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-07-21. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for PAS USASEAN FY23 01

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