Description
Mission Brazil seeks for institutional assistance to support the development and implementation of the Brazil portion of 2023 Youth Ambassadors program for up to 50 selected students and 2 adult escorts. The Youth Ambassadors exchange program offers outstanding, yet underprivileged, high school students from the public education system a short-term full immersion in U.S. culture and society, as well as skill-building opportunities for the 21st Century work environment. Awarded students get to visit the capital of the United States, attend meetings with public and private institutions, visit schools and social projects, participate in training sessions to help improve communication skills, leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as to develop a creative action plan to help address a key issue in their respective communities. Since its inception in 2003, Mission Brazil’s Youth Ambassadors program (YAP) has evolved from a small exchange program for a dozen high school students to Brazil’s internationally recognized – and hemisphere-wide replicated – flagship youth engagement initiative. The YAP brand is easily recognizable throughout the country and reaches audiences from the dense urban centers of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to the most remote parts of rural Brazil. Beyond the exchange itself, this program has become the catalyst for the Mission to build on strategic and lasting partnerships with the government of Brazil by pursuing complementary policy goals in the areas of education, English language teaching, strengthening civil society, as well as by keeping the U.S. as the top destination for Brazilians interested in studying abroad. As a result of its positive impact, since 2010, State Department started funding the program throughout Latin America. Therefore, this funding opportunity will allow the implementing organization to help Mission Brazil: screen and pre-select Brazilian candidates, coordinate and purchase participants' in-country travel, book and purchase round-trip international tickets traveling in the same flights for the participants going to the U.S. and back, include travel insurance during pre-departure orientation in Brazil, as well as for the day of the group’s return to Brazil and their return flights back home, include travel allowance (in dollars) for minor incidental expenses during the program, include a COVID-19 mitigation plan and specific measures, develop and implement a comprehensive pre-departure orientation for participants so that they can feel confident and ready for their first exchange experience in the U.S. Provide advice/support for the participants as they try to implement the action plans developed during the exchange program in the U.S. Participants and Audiences: This funding opportunity aims at supporting the full and positive participation of up to 50 Brazilian public high school students selected for this 2023 Youth Ambassadors program, as well as 2 adult escorts selected from the pool of Partner Institutions spread all over the country.