Well Told Grants

Grants / Department of State / U.S. Mission to Sri Lanka

PDS-COL-2024-YSALI: Launching the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI)

Closed Closed August 16, 2024 Opportunity PDS-COL-2024-YSALI

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Austrian-American Partnership Fund (AAPF) (OFOP0002825). Status: Closes January 1, 2099 (26353 days left). It is in our archive of U.S. Mission to Sri Lanka notices from 2024.

U.S. Mission to Sri Lanka offered grants of up to $2.0 million (at least $1.5 million) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make one award. Applications closed on August 16, 2024.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed June 17, 2024. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedJune 17, 2024
DeadlineAugust 16, 2024
Archived by Grants.govSeptember 15, 2024

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other not-for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application and maintain active status through the life of the award. Please see the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) for additional information.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

Executive Summary U.S. Embassy Colombo, in collaboration with the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy, invites proposal submissions from U.S. public and private academic, cultural, and exchange-of-persons institutions, and other not-for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501 (c) (3) (see section C. Eligibility Information) for the design and implementation of U.S. and regional workshops for the inaugural cohort of the Young South Asia Leaders Initiative (YSALI). This is an exciting opportunity to inform a new youth leadership initiative at the U.S. Department of State in a dynamic region with a significant youth population. YSALI is a new network, modeled on existing programs like the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), and others, designed to deliver on the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) by building the capacity of young leaders in South Asia. South Asia’s more than 420 million young people will be pivotal to meeting regional and global challenges. YSALI’s investment in youth from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka will help empower young leaders in the region to tackle shared challenges. Background YSALI is a new network conceived by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in consultation with constituent posts, drawing on best practices from existing State Department networks for young leaders in other regions. SCA intends to build the YSALI network from existing country-specific and regional youth initiatives, offering membership to already identified young people, and moving them up the ladder of engagement with the United States by offering new opportunities and a shared platform for connection. This configuration will help build the network in a controlled growth format. The YSALI themes are: 1) driving prosperity through entrepreneurship, 2) democratic resilience and a vibrant civil society, and 3) regional climate resilience. Project Audience Participants will be undergraduate students, recent graduates, or young professionals aged 18-30 from the seven countries in South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). Mission India will manage the YSALI membership for Bhutan.

Category: Other.

Who has won Public Diplomacy Programs grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Public Diplomacy Programs (19.040) awarded $358 million across 13,489 grant awards, an average of $26,570 per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees2,478$50.3 million
Meridian International CenterDistrict of Columbia27$6.5 million
American Councils for International Education: Actr/Accels, Inc.District of Columbia72$4.7 million
Cultural Vistas, Inc.District of Columbia22$4.7 million
World Learning Inc.Vermont25$4.4 million

Top states: District of Columbia ($44.3 million), New York ($12.8 million), California ($12.3 million), Virginia ($5.3 million), Texas ($4.8 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, OFOP0002825, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.

Questions people ask

Is PDS-COL-2024-YSALI still open?

No. It closed on August 16, 2024. A newer notice is open: OFOP0002825, closes January 1, 2099 (26353 days left).

Who can apply for Launching the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI)?

U.S. Mission to Sri Lanka accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

What is the deadline for Launching the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI)?

Closed August 16, 2024. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $2.0 million each.

Who has won Public Diplomacy Programs grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees, Meridian International Center, American Councils for International Education: Actr/Accels, Inc. The program made 13,489 awards worth $358 million in that time.

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