Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0007630
The FY 2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders grant opportunity is a U.S. Department of State program run through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) that seeks a single organization to take the lead in designing, implementing, and overseeing the Mandela Washington Fellowship. This is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement structure, which typically means the federal government expects substantial involvement in the program's execution and decision-making rather than simply issuing funds with minimal oversight. The fellowship itself is the flagship initiative under the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and is framed as a long-term investment in leadership development, people-to-people ties, and stronger U.S.-Africa relationships.
At its core, the opportunity is about continuing and managing a well-established leadership program that began in 2014 and has already built a network of roughly 4,400 alumni (Fellows) across key professional sectors. The fellowship is positioned as both a leadership pipeline and a network-building platform, aiming to prepare emerging leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa for greater roles in public service, business and entrepreneurship, and civil society. The broader policy goals emphasized in the announcement align with YALI priorities: strengthening democratic institutions and governance, encouraging economic growth and prosperity, and supporting peace and security interests shared between African countries and the United States. In practice, that means the implementing partner would be expected to run a complex, multi-part international exchange and leadership development program while maintaining program quality, coherence, and measurable outcomes that reflect these themes.
The award structure is straightforward but significant in scale. ECA anticipates making one award, with an award ceiling of $16,950,000, indicating the selected recipient would act as the primary implementer responsible for major program components and coordination. The funding opportunity number is SFOP0007630, and it is tied to CFDA (now commonly referenced as Assistance Listing) 19.009. The original posting date is February 22, 2021, with an original application deadline of April 23, 2021. Because only one award is expected, the competition is effectively for a single prime cooperative agreement, which raises the bar for demonstrated capacity, prior experience managing large-scale international exchange programs, strong financial and compliance systems, and the ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders and locations.
Eligibility is open to several categories of applicants that can realistically operate at this level, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and U.S.-based nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education). The notice also includes an "Others" eligibility category, signaling that additional eligible entities may be described in the full announcement under an eligibility clarification section. Overall, the opportunity targets organizations capable of managing a flagship U.S. government-funded international fellowship: designing and running programming, overseeing participant experience and safety, coordinating with partners, tracking results, and sustaining the fellowship's alumni network to reinforce long-term leadership development and U.S.-Africa engagement goals.Apply for SFOP0007630
- 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 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.009.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 22, 2021.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 23, 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 $16,950,000.00 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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