Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0010307
The FY 2024 Global Sports Mentoring Program (GSMP) is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) funding opportunity run through the Office of Citizen Exchanges, Sports Diplomacy Division (ECA/PE/C/SU). It invites eligible U.S. organizations to implement an international sports diplomacy exchange program built around professional mentorship, inclusion, and leadership development. The overall goal is to use sport as a practical tool for advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives, strengthening civil society, and expanding opportunity for groups that have historically been marginalized, specifically women and people with disabilities. The program is structured to create durable, mutually beneficial relationships between American sports leaders and emerging leaders overseas, while also supporting participant-designed action plans that can translate into real community impact after the exchange ends.
The award will be made as a single cooperative agreement, meaning the selected organization will work closely with ECA during implementation rather than operating entirely independently. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding under CFDA 19.415, with an award ceiling of $1,140,000 and one expected award. The original application deadline listed is May 20, 2024. Eligible applicants include U.S. nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (and other eligible entities such as public and private institutions of higher education, including state-controlled institutions). The implementing organization is expected to manage the full program design and delivery, including recruitment, selection, orientation, mentorship matching, exchange logistics, and ongoing alumni engagement, as well as monitoring and evaluation.
Programmatically, GSMP funds two separate, month-long professional development mentorship exchanges hosted in the United States, plus a reciprocal overseas exchange component. In total, the program anticipates approximately 70 to 80 participants across all activities, including about 30 international emerging leaders and roughly 40 to 50 American mentors. The mentorship model is central: emerging leaders from other countries are paired with U.S. mentors who are sports executives and practitioners, allowing participants to observe U.S. approaches firsthand, build professional networks, and develop practical skills that they can adapt back home. The program also emphasizes sustained engagement beyond the initial exchange through U.S. Embassy relationships, follow-on alumni grants for individual projects, and structured tracking of results.
The FY 2024 GSMP is organized into two distinct tracks scheduled for 2025. The first is the Sport for Community GSMP, planned for spring 2025, which focuses on disability rights and adaptive sports. This track leverages the visibility and momentum of major global adaptive sporting events such as the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics, and Deaflympics. It is designed to bring together about 15 international emerging leaders with 15 to 20 American mentors working in the adaptive sports sector. The intent is to expand inclusive sports opportunities and increase the full participation of youth and people with disabilities, positioning sport as a pathway to dignity, access, and community integration.
The second track is the espnW GSMP, planned for fall 2025, centered on womens empowerment and gender equity in and through sports. This component is described as a public-private partnership with espnW, ESPN's brand focused on women in sports. It is expected to connect roughly 15 female change agents from other countries with about 15 to 20 American mentors who are committed to advancing the rights and empowerment of women and girls through sport. In practical terms, this track aims to equip participants with strategies for leadership, advocacy, and program development that can shift norms and create more equitable opportunities in sports organizations and broader communities.
Across both tracks, two cornerstone U.S. policy frameworks are woven throughout the curriculum and exchanges: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title IX. These are presented not just as U.S. laws, but as examples of how legal and institutional commitments can support democratic values, equality, and inclusive participation. By highlighting ADA and Title IX as living models, GSMP seeks to demonstrate U.S. leadership and competitiveness in building systems that expand access and protect rights, while also giving international participants concrete reference points they can draw from when developing reforms, programs, or advocacy campaigns in their own contexts.
Finally, the program is designed to align with the growing global trend of sport for social change that is increasingly tied to business and sustainability. GSMP therefore incorporates content on sports philanthropy, marketing, and entrepreneurship, with the idea that participants should be able to develop action plans that are not only mission-driven but also realistic, fundable, and scalable. The program is described as participant-led and built around business plans, reinforcing that the exchange is meant to produce implementable projects rather than only short-term learning. The full announcement includes additional implementation expectations and details, but at its core this opportunity funds one organization to run two mentorship-based exchanges and a reciprocal component that use sport to advance inclusion, empowerment, and lasting cross-border professional collaboration.Apply for SFOP0010307
- The Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2024 Global Sports Mentoring Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.415.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-18.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-05-20. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,140,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.
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