2025 Brazil Youth Ambassadors Program | FY24 2024 BSB 410604

Opportunity Information: Apply for FY24 2024 BSB 410604

The 2025 Brazil Youth Ambassadors Program grant opportunity is an open competition run by the U.S. Embassy Brasilia (U.S. Mission to Brazil) with funding from the U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs). The award supports an organization that can help develop and deliver the Brazil-side implementation of the Youth Ambassadors Program, a long-running public diplomacy exchange that brings high-performing, underprivileged Brazilian public high school students to the United States for a short, intensive cultural and professional immersion. The program is positioned as the Mission's flagship youth engagement initiative in Brazil, recognized nationally and replicated in other parts of the hemisphere, and it is also tied to broader U.S.-Brazil partnership goals in education, English language learning, civil society strengthening, and maintaining the United States as a top study destination for Brazilians.

The core purpose of the funded project is to ensure the successful participation of up to 46 Brazilian public high school students and two adult program assistants (drawn from the Embassy's partner institutions across Brazil) in the 2025 Youth Ambassadors cycle. During the exchange in the United States, students typically travel to Washington, DC, engage with public and private institutions, visit schools and social projects, and participate in structured trainings focused on communication, leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, innovation, and other "21st century" workforce skills. A major deliverable on the student side is the development of a creative action plan meant to address a concrete issue in each participant's home community, with the expectation that students will continue working on these plans after they return to Brazil.

The implementing organization is expected to handle a wide set of operational and programmatic responsibilities that cover the full arc of the participant experience. This includes administering the online application process; helping the Embassy broadly disseminate program information; screening and pre-selecting candidates for final review and selection by the Embassy; arranging and purchasing in-country travel within Brazil; booking and purchasing round-trip international airfare for the entire group (with all participants traveling on the same flights in both directions); purchasing travel insurance for the pre-departure orientation period and for the return travel day and onward domestic legs home; and providing a travel allowance in U.S. dollars so participants can cover minor incidental expenses during the exchange. The award also covers planning and executing the full set of pre-departure orientation logistics in Brazil, such as venue and equipment, printed or promotional materials, ground transportation, lodging, meals, airport support, and related incidentals. In addition to logistics, the organization must work with the Embassy to design substantive orientation content and bring in appropriate specialists to deliver sessions. After the exchange, the organization must run a structured, three-month post-program component that supports reentry and helps participants implement or advance the action plans they developed while in the United States.

From a funding and award structure standpoint, the opportunity anticipates a single award with an award ceiling of $240,000, using FY2024 Smith-Mundt Public Diplomacy funds. The projected start date is January 14, 2025, and the total period of performance is one year, covering planning, implementation, and post-program follow-on support. The notice also states that continuation funding may be considered non-competitively for up to two additional years, but only if funds are available, performance is strong, and continued support is determined to be in the Department of State's interest. Like most federal opportunities, the award is explicitly subject to the availability of funding.

Eligible applicants include U.S.-based or overseas-based nonprofit organizations, NGOs, think tanks, educational institutions, and other qualified entities that can demonstrate a strong track record working with Brazilian youth, real familiarity with Brazilian culture and society, and the ability to mobilize quickly. Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to propose cost sharing or matching if it helps strengthen community and stakeholder engagement, and the announcement makes clear that cost share will not be a deciding factor. A critical compliance point is that each organization may submit only one proposal; submitting multiple proposals from the same organization makes all of them ineligible.

On the administrative side, applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active registration in SAM.gov to be eligible for award. The announcement highlights that DUNS numbers are no longer required. While sub-awardee UEIs are not required at the time of application, they will be required prior to processing funds to a sub-grantee, consistent with 2 CFR 200 and federal transparency requirements.

The application package is available through the Embassy website and Grants.gov, and submissions must follow detailed formatting and content rules. All documents must be in English, budgets must be in U.S. dollars, pages must be numbered, and documents must be formatted for 8.5 x 11 paper. The proposal narrative is capped at 12 pages and should clearly explain what the applicant intends to do, including a proposal summary, organizational background and prior U.S. government funding history, a problem statement, measurable goals and objectives, activities, methods/design (with a logic model where appropriate), a schedule and timeline with dates/locations, staffing plan and time allocations, partners and sub-awardees, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainability or future funding plans. Required forms include the SF-424 and SF-424A, along with a summary/cover page, a detailed budget justification narrative, one-page resumes or CVs for key personnel, partner letters of support, and (if applicable) the applicant's negotiated indirect cost rate agreement documentation. The submission deadline is listed as no later than April 27, 2024, although the source data also references an original closing date of April 23, 2024, so applicants would need to verify the controlling deadline in the official posting before submitting.

Finally, the opportunity includes standard funding restrictions that shape what costs can and cannot be charged to the award. The Embassy will not fund profit-making activities, costs incurred outside the approved performance period (unless pre-approved in writing), advocacy for foreign government policy positions or partisan political views, alcohol, entertainment costs unless specifically justified for programmatic purposes and authorized, or land and construction. The Embassy also reserves the right to place conditions on an award or request cost clarifications, increases, decreases, or additional justification to ensure responsible use of funds.

• The U.S. Mission to Brazil in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2025 Brazil Youth Ambassadors Program" 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 2024-02-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-23. (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 $240,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for FY24 2024 BSB 410604

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