Young Pacific Leaders Annual Conference

Background
The U.S. Embassy New Zealand Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to develop and implement a Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Conference sometime between May-July 2024 to provide emerging Pacific leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to become leaders, pending the availability of funding. The Conference should preferably take part in Hawaii, USA to coincide with the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts, but may be hosted in other Pacific locations pending logistics and costs.

The State Department has convened a diverse Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Conference each year since 2013, taking place in American Samoa, Samoa, New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Guam. Each conference shared the goal of building leadership capacity and creating ties among emerging leaders from across the Pacific region.

Grant Details
The program aims to create a network of young Pacific leaders who work across national borders and the four pillars of YPL – education, environment and resource management, civic engagement, and economic and social development – to solve common problems.

The Annual Conference will advance the YPL pillars by providing practical leadership skills and a deeper knowledge of regional issues related to the four pillars of the YPL program: civic engagement, environment/resource management, education, and economic and social development. The conference should emphasize experiential learning and capacity building in order to equip diverse participants with the tools they need for success.

The proposal should include Conference lead up and follow-on activities such as virtual collaborative work, projects funded through small seed grants, or ongoing mentorship that goes beyond the Conference’s program dates.

Eligibility Requirements
U.S. Embassy New Zealand welcomes applications from non-profit organizations/non-government organizations (NGOs) and private, public, or state institutions of higher education. For-profit entities are not eligible to apply.

Period of Performance
The length of performance period is up to 36 months with an anticipated project start date in October 1, 2023. The period of performance should be approximately 18-24 months with the event taking place in 2024.

Grant Value
Up to $250,000 USD is available for one award. The total available funding is also up to $250,000 USD.

Place of Performance
The specific geographic location(s) where the grant will be performed include Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau,Papua New Guinea,Samoa,Solomon Islands,Tonga,Tuvalu,Vanuatu Wallis,Futuna,American Samoa,GUAM,Northern Mariana Islands,Hawaii.