Open Startup Morocco - FY20

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE U.S. EMBASSY RABAT Notice of Funding Opportunity Funding Opportunity Title: “Open Startup Morocco” Open Cooperative Agreement 2020 Funding Opportunity Number: PAS-MOROCCO-FY20-07 Deadline for Applications: Monday, August 24, 2020 CFDA Number: 19.040 Total Amount Available: $175,000 - $200,000 1. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The U.S. Embassy in Rabat is pleased to announce an open competition to award a cooperative agreement for our new program “Open Startup Morocco” (OST-M). The Public Affairs Office invites proposals from American higher education institutions to design and implement an intensive program aimed at developing the entrepreneurship skills of a cohort of high-potential Moroccan university students. Only U.S. institutions are eligible to compete for this cooperative agreement, but the awardee is expected to work closely with a Moroccan sub-grantee, to be selected with the Embassy’s substantial involvement. The awardee will also coordinate and share materials and best practices with U.S. Embassy Tunis and its implementing partners running a sister project, “Open Startup Tunisia.” OST-M will seek to engage with and strengthen the skills of budding Moroccan entrepreneurs as a means of addressing the country’s youth unemployment crisis, boosting its stability, and countering the threat of extremism among youth. Specifically, the program will seek to strengthen Morocco’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by providing training in critical skills to approximately 75 talented university students; areas of focus will include design thinking, market discovery, teamwork, marketing, and pitching. Program planning will begin in September 2020 and the project is intended to be completed by July 2021, with the possible postponement of travel and certain in-person elements as health and safety conditions dictate. The program will be conducted in English. OST-M will employ American professors, business models, and precepts to create a peer network of Moroccan students for shared learning, mentor development, and startup exposure. It will also include a strong virtual exchange component with American university students who will form interdisciplinary teams with their Moroccan counterparts to develop joint business ideas. The key components of OST-M are as follows: · Selection of participants: The awardee will work closely with the local implementing partner and the Embassy to develop selection criteria, market a national competition, and select a cohort of 75 high-performing Moroccan university students from business, technology, engineering, and related fields. · Entrepreneurship “bootcamp”: The awardee will lead a week-long, intensive entrepreneurship course introducing the cohort to key business concepts and models. This bootcamp is intended to be held in-person at a central location in Morocco, with the awardee responsible for coordinating and funding the travel and lodging of all participants to and from the program location. Note that the bootcamp could be held virtually as an alternative, if health and safety conditions dictate. · 10 additional trainings: The awardee and local implementing partner will offer 10 additional virtual trainings in key elements of launching or scaling up a startup. These trainings would include both U.S. business professors and local experts, including alumni of U.S. government exchange programs and/or representatives of U.S. companies operating in Morocco. · Mentorship training: The awardee will design and deliver a two-day training for up to 60 entrepreneurship practitioners (established entrepreneurs, professors, venture capitalists, incubators, etc.) on OST-M project and mentoring techniques. Of this group, up to 30 will be selected as mentors for the student teams. · Virtual project development: The Moroccan cohort will be paired with American university students for a facilitated virtual exchange, allowing them to develop joint project ideas. Select American university students will travel to Morocco for in-person engagement with their Moroccan counterparts and to participate in a competition pitching their final ideas. The awardee will be responsible for coordinating and funding the travel and lodging for trip participants. · U.S. program: The Moroccan winning team from the pitch competition will travel to the United States for a week-long immersion/capacity building experience hosted at the awardee’s institution. The awardee will be responsible for coordinating and paying for the travel and lodging for trip participants. Objectives Each proposal should meet the following objectives, in addition to strengthening understanding of U.S. values, institutions, and precepts: 1. Expand participants’ understanding of the fundamentals of developing, launching, and scaling up a business. 2. Expose participants to U.S. models for business development and connect them with American entrepreneurship experts. 3. Strengthen the Moroccan entrepreneurship ecosystem by forging relationships between universities and business practitioners. 3. Facilitate the development of an ongoing network of entrepreneurs who can offer support and ongoing best practices while sustaining their relationship with the U.S. Embassy. 4. Develop relationships between Moroccan university students and their American counterparts, as well as between the awardee and Moroccan higher education institutions. Proposals Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals for OST-M that detail how they will design the program components to meet program objectives. All proposals should contain a proposed syllabus of both the bootcamp and virtual trainings as well as a description of the virtual exchange, pitch competition, and capacity-building trip to the U.S. Applicants should also provide a proposed Monitoring and Evaluation plan that includes both specifics about monitoring output data as well as ways to evaluate impact on the target audience. Only U.S. higher education institutions with SAM registration will be eligible to receive funding. 1. GUIDELINES: · The awardee will work closely with the Embassy’s Public Affairs Office to select a Moroccan subgrantee via an open notice of funding opportunity. The subgrantee will assist in local implementation of the OST-M program. Applicant’s proposals should include all costs associated with the local implementor’s personnel costs as well as the costs for all tasks the local implementor will perform. · The awardee should recruit participants from across Morocco. A clear methodology of participant recruitment and selection should be detailed in the proposal, including efforts to ensure geographic and socio-economic inclusion as well as gender balance. · The cooperative agreement should cover funding for any materials necessary for the promotion of OST-M and materials for use in program activities. · The awardee will be expected to design and execute an intensive week-long facilitated entrepreneurship “bootcamp” for 75 Moroccan university students. This should be held at a central location in Morocco and the cooperative agreement should cover the costs of a venue; travel, lodging, and full board for participants; and travel, lodging, and full board for facilitators. · The awardee will offer 10 additional virtual trainings for the cohort in key elements of launching or scaling up a startup. These trainings should include both U.S. business professors and local experts, including alumni of U.S. government exchange programs and/or representatives of U.S. companies operating in Morocco. · The awardee will design and deliver a two-day mentoring workshop for up to 60 entrepreneurship practitioners at a central location. The cooperative agreement should cover the costs of venue, travel lodging, and full board for participants and facilitators. · The awardee will design and execute a virtual exchange program that connects the Moroccan cohort with American university students, allowing them to develop joint project ideas. · The awardee will arrange for selected American university students to travel to Morocco for in-person engagement with their Moroccan counterparts and to participate in a competition pitching their final ideas. The awardee will be responsible for coordinating and paying for the travel and lodging for trip participants. · The awardee will design a week-long immersion/capacity building experience for the wining Moroccan team at its campus. The awardee will be responsible for coordinating and paying for the travel and lodging for trip participants. · The awardee should be prepared to design and implement surveys, polls, or other methods for evaluating the OST-M program’s effectiveness before, during and after the program’s completion. · Applicants’ proposals should detail how they will design program components to meet program objectives. Proposals should contain a proposed syllabus of both the bootcamp and virtual trainings as well as a description of the virtual exchange, pitch competition, and capacity-building trip to the U.S. · Applicants should also provide a proposed Monitoring and Evaluation plan that includes both specifics about monitoring output data as well as ways to evaluate impact on the target audience. · The awardee should be available to participate in regular planning calls with the Embassy in the planning stage before the launch of OST-M and during its implementation. · Equipment cannot account for more than 10% of the total project cost. · All proposals must be submitted to the U.S. Embassy by August 24, 2020. No late proposals will be considered. · All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by early September 2020, subject to the availability of funds. C. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION · Number of awards anticipated: one award. · Approximate award amount: The amount may range from a minimum of $175,000 to a maximum of $200,000. Projects for lesser or greater values will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Funding may be renewed for up to an additional two years on a non-competitive basis pending successful performance and availability of funds. · Type of Funding: FY20 Smith-Mundt Public Diplomacy Funds · The awardee should plan to end the project by July 2021 with dates to be set in coordination with the Embassy and unless an extension is agreed to with the Embassy. This notice is subject to availability of funding. Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement. The Public Affairs Office will be actively involved in the award implementation. U.S. Embassy staff will: · Assist in identifying possible sub-grantees, approve the selection process, review proposals, and approve the sub-grantee selection. · Provide standardized logos/branding guidelines for OST-M promotional materials · Initiate and participate in promotional activities, to include promotion of OST-M through the U.S. Mission to Morocco’s social media platforms and media engagements as well as promotion of OST-M using Embassy contacts at Moroccan universities. · Assist in identifying possible bootcamp, mentoring institute, and pitch competition venues. Approve the selection of the venues. · Approve participant, mentor, and expert speaker recruitment and selection plans. · Assist the awardee in developing a multistage review process for applicants, including an initial technical review of applications, review and creation of a short list, and process for interviews, which will include a panel of reviewers with Embassy representation if the Embassy chooses. · Assist in identifying and contacting alumni of U.S. government exchange program, representatives of U.S. companies, and U.S. Mission personnel as potential speakers or mentors. · Review and approve proposed bootcamp. mentoring institute, virtual training sessions, and pitch competition agendas and activity/workshop/site visit topics and formats. · Use social media and outreach to print and television networks, as well as engagement by senior Mission officials, to showcase OST-M for a wider Moroccan audience. · Identify approach, and vet possible private sector contributors to OST-M. D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION · To apply, please complete the Project Narrative Form, the Organizational Information Form, and the Budget Proposal template (in USD) · Proposals must include a proposed syllabus of both the bootcamp and virtual trainings as well as a description of the virtual exchange, pitch competition, and capacity-building trip to the U.S (Please use and attach your own form) . Proposals should also contain a proposed Monitoring and Evaluation plan that includes both specifics about monitoring output data as well as ways to evaluate impact on the target audience. · Budgets must follow the budget template and should be submitted in U.S. Dollars (please use $1 = 9.500 MAD as exchange rate) · If other partners are willing to support the proposed activity, please list them as well as their contribution. · The following documents must be submitted to [email protected] no later than Monday, August 24, 2020. o Project Narrative Form (in English) o Applicant Organizational Information Form o Budget Proposal (in USD) o Syllabi, M&E plan, and descriptions (use your own template) For any questions, please contact: [email protected]