American Councils for International Education is pleased to announce an Alumni Grants Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), to assist past participants of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program of the program years 2003-04 to 2010-11 who are citizens of:

Egypt, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Egypt, Gaza, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, West Bank and Yemen.  

The grants are available to alumni to enable them to contribute to the social, economic, and civic development of their countries. Alumni of educational programs abroad often have the broad perspective and initiative required to make positive contributions upon their return home. The YES Alumni Grants Program will give alumni the opportunity to initiate social, economic, and civic development projects of their own design in their home countries. Some possible projects include:

Community service projects; Projects to promote civic participation; Professional development activities; Projects to support and promote knowledge of English language and understanding of American culture; and any other projects judged to be in the spirit of the program by the selection committee.

Please note that these grants are not intended to fund purchases of computer equipment, alumni salaries, or political activities working for or against a specific candidate or party.

Grants will fall into two categories:

Individual grants (Up To $250)
To support community service projects, as well as personal or professional development projects (including attendance at conferences), etc. Individual grant applicants who demonstrate in their proposals readiness to share their experience with others in their community upon completion will be given preference. These may be single events or small-scale projects.

Group grants (Up To $3000):
to support professional development or teaching programs; community service activities; promotion of English language and American culture; etc. Not all people participating in the group must be YES alumni, but the grant recipient and the project leader or co-leader must be a YES Alumnus/a.

The YES Alumni Grants Program is funded by ECA and is administered by the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. Proposals may be funded in part. American Councils may request that applicants modify their budgets in order to accommodate partial funding.

To learn more and to fill out an application, go to https://ais.americancouncils.org/ais and create an account.