The Embassy of the United States in Beirut announces an open competition for past participants (“alumni”) of U.S. government-funded and U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs to submit applications to the 2021 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF 2021) to provide alumni of U.S. sponsored and facilitated exchange programs with funding to expand on skills gained during their exchange experience to design and implement innovative solutions to global challenges facing their community.

AEIF 2021 will support United States’ commitment to working with the partners around the world to promote freedom of opinion and expression, counter disinformation and misinformation, and foster civic engagement and civic participation.

Thematic Areas

• Promoting freedom of opinion and expression
• Countering disinformation and misinformation
• Fostering civic engagement and civic participation

Funding Information

• Expected size of individual awards: Between $10,000 to $50,000.
• Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 24 months or less

Eligibility Criteria

The following individuals are eligible to apply:

• Applicants must be alumni of a U.S. government-funded exchange program or a U.S. government-sponsored exchange program.
• Projects teams must include teams of at least two (2) alumni.
• Alumni who are U.S. citizens may not submit proposals, but U.S. citizen alumni may participate as team members in a project.
• Alumni teams may be comprised of alumni from different exchange programs and different countries.
• Applications must be submitted by exchange alumni. Not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and academic institutions are not eligible to apply in the name of the organization but can serve as partners for implementing project activities.
• Proposals must address freedom of opinion and expression, disinformation and misinformation, or civic engagement and civic participation.
• All grant activities must comply with the latest guidance related to COVID-19/coronavirus.
• If the grant will be processed with an individual, that individual is not required to have a DUNS number or be registered in SAM.gov.

For more information, visit U.S. Mission to Lebanon.