Funding Opportunity Title: 2023 Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Funding Opportunity Number: PD-SEOUL-FY23-05 Deadline for Applications: July 17, 2023, 11:59 p.m. GMT+9 CFDA Number: 19.040 – Public Diplomacy Programs Total Amount Available: $55,000 This notice is subject to availability of funding. A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION U.S. Embassy is excited to launch its first Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in Korea. AWE is a new initiative created by the U.S. Department of State aimed at supporting and empowering women entrepreneurs globally. It targets women entrepreneurs to provide the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to build, manage, and scale successful businesses – a key priority highlighted by both President Biden and President Yoon during the 2023 U.S.-ROK State Visit. Participants will gain skills to maximize their contributions to the Korean economy and facilitate entry into the U.S. market. The selected grantee will facilitate a pre-made curriculum combining online and offline components. The curriculum covers topics including entrepreneurship, business planning, marketing, financial management, and pitching. The grantee will also collaborate with U.S. Embassy Seoul to hold networking programs for participants to meet each other and prominent peers. Before the program begins, the grantee organization will receive an AWE training session to familiarize themselves with the program. Key Outputs: Recruitment: The target audience is 20-25 startup CEOs who have been running their businesses since inception. Detailed participant selection criteria will be designed in close collaboration with the grantee organization. Program and Networking: The first phase of the program will focus on Thunderbird University's three-month-long “100 Million Learners Program,” delivered online. During this phase, the grantee organization will maintain regular check-ins with participants to ensure their active engagement. Monthly in-person meetings will be held to facilitate discussion of the material and best practices for adapting these skills to their own businesses. Participants who successfully complete the training will be invited to attend Select USA in 2024 and become mentees in the Select USA Global Women in Tech program. The program will culminate in a graduation ceremony in Fall 2024. Monitoring and Evaluation: The grantee organization will conduct ongoing surveys to assess participants' satisfaction before and after attending the AWE program. These surveys will assess the relevance of the materials to their businesses and any reflections on results of the trainings. If you’d like to use the ones the Embassy provides, please find them here: https://kr.usembassy.gov/grants/ For more information, please refer to the NOFO document, and email us at
[email protected] for any questions.