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New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming is celebrating its 10th year of supporting research grants and career development opportunities for a network of more than 830 researchers from diverse, underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. The program aims to expand the diversity of perspectives that inform RWJF programming and introduce new researchers to the Foundation to help address research and evaluation needs. New Connections is a career development program for early career researchers. Through grantmaking, mentorship, career development and networking, New Connections enhances the research capacity of its grantees and network members. The researchers in this program transcend disciplines (health; health care; social sciences; business; urban planning; architecture and engineering); work to build the case for a Culture of Health with strong qualitative and quantitative research skills; and produce and translate timely research results.

A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Awards celebrate the power of human connections. The awards recognize distinguished service to the global mission of the STAR Scholars Network. Several individuals with a deep impact on advancing global, social mobility are recognized every year. We live in a time when innovation and creativity in support of humanity are of great importance. The Star Scholars Network recognizes the commitment of concerned people able and willing to make a difference in the lives of others. Nominations for this award are solicited from around the world. The nominee can be from any field. Beginning in 2020, the Star Scholars Network is committed to promoting transnational research, or collaborative research between scholars of two or more countries (e.g., joint publications, research partnerships, etc.). The Global Connections Awards recognize STAR Scholars for their achievements and distinctive contributions to translational research that demonstrates the very best of scholarly collaboration among scholars around the world. In December 2020, the Star Scholars Network will provide awards in three categories: North Star Medal of Lifetime Achievement, Shining Star Achievement in Research Award, Rising Star Emerging Scholar Certificate

Ethnographic Overviews and Assessments are baseline cultural resource documents as defined in DO-28, Cultural Resource Management Guidelines, and will provide the park with information to help meet its obligations under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation⿿s regulations regarding the "Protection of Historic Properties," the Secretary of the Interior⿿s "Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation", and the "Federal Agency Responsibilities under Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act.⿝. B. Project Objectives ⿿ The overall objective of this project is the preparation of an ethnographic resource report for Natural Bridges National Monument. This documentation and evaluation of ethnographic resources will be used to support public education and park interpretation to increase understanding of Native American tribes⿿ traditional connection with Natural Bridges National Monument. The products of this project will be available to the public (save any sensitive cultural information or other information determined necessary to be kept confidential). Information gained and recommendations made as a result of the Ethnographic Overview and Assessment will be used by park personnel to 1) better educate the public about the deep connection between tribes and tribal members to lands contained within Natural Bridges National Monument and its landscape as well as improve the National Park Service⿿s understanding of how its actions may affect those connections, 2) design culturally sensitive interpretation programs and materials, 3) sensitively respond to requests by tribal members for the use of park places or resources, and 4) fully consider impacts to these resources that may result from proposed NPS actions within park planning activities.

Grants support the development and implementation of an integrated set of courses and student engagement activities focusing on significant humanities content. A common topic, theme, or compelling issue or question must link the courses and activities. The linked courses (a minimum of three) may fulfill general education or core curriculum requirements but could also be designed primarily for students in a particular major or course of study. The Humanities Connections program gives special encouragement to projects that foster collaboration between humanities faculty and their counterparts in the social and natural sciences and pre-service or professional programs in business, engineering, health sciences, law, computer science, and other non-humanities fields.

The United States Department of State, Embassy in Brasília - Brazil, announces a notification of funding opportunity (NOFO) to support the development and implementation of a program to support the participation of American artists at cultural festivals and other special events in Sao Paulo's consular district with up to US$40,000 in FY2018 for a project period not to exceed two years. The preliminary start date for this activity is October 15, 2018, and one award is anticipated as a result of this NOFO. However, should both parties consider the results of this exchange to be positive - and also subject to availability of funds - we may agree to renew this NOFO for up to two additional years. We are seeking proposals for the development and implementation of a program to support the participation of American artists at cultural festivals and other special events in Sao Paulo's consular district, which comprises the states of Sao Paulo, Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul. By ensuring American representation at cultural events and artistic performances, the program contributes to engage local audiences in understanding U.S. values, as well as to and generate and expand connections between American and Brazilian institutions and individuals.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA, or "Bureau") announces an open competition for the FY 2018 Global Media Makers (GMM) program. GMM will connect approximately 12 to 18 mid-career film and television professionals ("Fellows") from approximately six to eight countries with leading U.S. entertainment and media professionals ("Mentors"). These Mentors will facilitate behind-the-scenes access, bolster participants' technical skills and creative content development, and build the foundations for lasting professional networks. This program will focus on film and television projects in development and match participants' areas of interest with Mentor expertise. Fellows will travel to Los Angeles, California for a five-to-six week residency to work on projects with Mentors and receive state-of-the-art-training and industry access to support conceptual development of independent, authentic, and compelling content for distribution in their home countries. Following the residency, Mentors will travel to a select number of the Fellows' countries, when possible, for continued creative consultation and engagement. Both Mentors and Fellows will mutually benefit from the extended creative and professional development, which will promote dialogue and understanding and lead to greater creative and entrepreneurial connections.

The Pop Culture Collaborative represents an innovative hub for high impact partnerships and grants designed to help organizations and individuals leverage the reach and power of pop culture for social justice goals. Their 'Pop Up' Rapid Response Grants are designed to support a short-term project developed in connection to a recent or upcoming acute political or cultural time hook, and must be intended to reach an audience of more than a million people or engage artists, producers, and/or organizers that do so. Funded projects must impact, support, or connect with at least one of these community groups: people of color, immigrants, refugees, or Muslims. They can work to support initiatives that build movements, drive campaigns, produce stories, and leverage mass media and entertainment media to drive positive narrative and social change in popular culture. Examples of funded projects include public events and private retreats; tool and resource prototypes; network and partnership building; story, narrative, and strategy design process; and creative content including short film/video, concerts, music recordings, etc. Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000. Requests may be submitted at any time by nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and individuals with fiscal sponsorship. Visit the Collaborative's website to learn more about the Pop Up Rapid Response Grants program.

Objectives: To promote higher education opportunities in the United States by engaging with U.S. university alumni residing in the east and northeast India region, promoting EducationUSA programming, and encouraging Indian students to apply to colleges and universities in the U.S. The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata (PAS Kolkata) seeks proposals for a project entitled "U.S. Universities Alumni: The East and Northeast India Connect Program." In this project, the grantee will work with the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), EducationUSA and PAS Kolkata to identify U.S. university alumni residing in the east and northeast India region (Kolkata Consular District) and create a database of the established alumni. The grantee will also, in collaboration with EducationUSA, create a year-long plan that includes organizing workshops and interactive sessions between the U.S. university alumni and potential U.S. university applicants and their parents at the American Center in Kolkata and at select venues of partnering institutions in cities that generate strong potential student populations, such as Patna, Guwahati, Siliguri, Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Ranchi. The foundational event of the program is an Alumni Fair at each city with a partnering organization. (Please refer to the full announcement available under related documents tab).

The National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, announces the launch of the special initiative, Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle. The project brings together four nationally acclaimed films that connect the stories of the long civil rights movement to spark public conversations about the changing meanings of freedom and equality in U.S. history. Up to 500 communities across the nation will receive these four inspiring NEH-funded films on Civil Rights history, accompanied by programming resources to guide public conversations. Each participating site will receive an award of up to $1,200 to support public programming exploring the themes of the Created Equal project.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, SportsUnited Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for the FY 2016 International Sports Programming Initiative. Sports Diplomacy programs can be an important tool for advancing foreign policy goals and connecting with audiences with whom traditional diplomacy proves challenging, including at-risk youth, women, minorities, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers. Sports Diplomacy enhances cross-cultural understanding and opens new avenues of dialogue and collaboration between individuals and nations. In support of U.S. Department of State foreign policy objectives, ECA's sports diplomacy programs create both people-to-people and institutional linkages through sport. The Office of Citizen Exchanges welcomes proposals that directly respond to the Sport for Social Change theme outlined below. The award recipient will be responsible for planning, overseeing, and/or implementing the exchanges including the administration of at least four two-way exchange programs.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq invites eligible organizations to submit proposals to assist in the development and implementation of a business mentoring program in southern Iraq geared primarily toward female single heads of household who wish to start their own businesses or enter the job market. U.S. Consulate General Basrah seeks to engage southern Iraqi women who are in positions of increased financial responsibility due to the loss of a family member to armed conflict, violent extremism, and/or sectarian violence. The goal is to enable Iraqi women to meet their essential economic needs and those of their families. Grant objectives are to connect Iraqi women with mentors-preferably female-in the business community, who can teach skills and model strategies that will increase their participation in the local economy, including basic computer skills, resume building, and the use of social media and other online platforms. English training is a desirable, but not required component of the training. Training that facilitates direct contact between the Iraqi diaspora and local women is also desirable. Participants will receive training and access resources as part of a local network of mentors that can provide them real-time tailored feedback and offer ongoing support, advice, and resources to overcome the challenges businesswomen face in the context of southern Iraqi society. The program should also incorporate virtual mentoring sessions with American entrepreneurs - particularly women, and those fluent in Arabic - who can speak to their experiences, offer best practices, and promote linkages between Iraqi and American businesspeople.

The DePaul University Humanities Center (DHC) is inviting applications for Visiting Fellows for 2017-2018. Applications are due by Friday, January 27, 2017. All applicants must have a Ph.D., and research projects must be in the humanities. International applications will be considered. Fellowships may run from September 2017 to June 2018, or from January 2018 to June 2018. During their tenure, Visiting Fellows are required to make an intellectual contribution to the DePaul community and participate in the programming and activities of the DHC and the university. We are especially interested in applications that involve a project around the theme of "Fake," broadly construed. All applications regardless of topic will be considered, but preference will be given to applicants that draw connections between their proposed project and the 2017-18 DHC theme, "Fake." NB: The DHC will be hosting events that include, e.g., investigations of identity and performance, the legality of forged artwork, magicians and charlatans, shadows and shadow selves, fiction's relation to nonfiction, etc. We are interested, that is, in interdisciplinary, creative, innovative projects that take up the topic.

The GriffinHarte Foundation promotes civil conversations about issues that divide us and are often contentious and difficult to sort through. These issues usually involve questions of fairness, equity, respect, identity, and the complex ways in which humans are connected to each other. Because the foundation believes that communication is one of the key elements to understanding and working with social differences, it supports and promote conversations, research, and scholarship that are grounded in questions about civility and feminism; informed by a desire to define, explore, and advocate for social, political, and economic justice in professional and personal lives; and centered in an explicit recognition of the ways lives and communication are influenced by identities - gender and sex, race and ethnicity, age and physical abilities, and education and economic standing. In addition, the foundation supports and promotes educational practices and research that are focused on how we teach as well as what we teach; grounded in a commitment to alternative pedagogies and educational practices; and informed by an explicit recognition of the ways identities, genders and sex, feminisms, civility, and civic engagement relate to social, political, and economic justice.

The purpose of the Jobs Plus Pilot program is to develop locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement, technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus Pilot program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through earned income disregards for working families, and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement, and financial counseling. Ideally, these incentives will saturate the target developments, building a culture of work and making working families the norm. The Jobs Plus Pilot program consists of the following three core components: Employment-Related Services Financial Incentives – Jobs Plus Earned Income Disregard (JPEID) Community Supports for Work Applicants are encouraged to develop key partnerships to connect participants with any other needed services to remove barriers to work. An Individualized Training and Services Plan (ITSP) should be developed for each participant to establish goals and service strategies, and to track progress. Background HUD, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the MDRC, through a public-private partnership, designed and supported the Jobs Plus program model between 1998 and 2003. HUD has issued two separate evaluation reports on the demonstration, in an effort to identify and document the most promising approaches to increasing employment among families in public housing. Each evaluation showed ongoing positive effects for residents when the program was well-implemented and included the three core elements.

Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) is a comprehensive national initiative designed to enhance U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) discoveries and innovations focused on NSF's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and broadening participation in these fields. The initiative is developing a National Network composed of NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilots, NSF INCLUDES Alliances, NSF-funded broadening participation projects, other relevant NSF-funded projects, scholars engaged in broadening participation research, and other organizations that support the development of talent from all sectors of society to build the STEM workforce. To facilitate the Network's operation, the program is soliciting proposals for a NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub that will drive and support the work of the NSF INCLUDES National Network over the lifecycle of the initiative by: (a) promoting the NSF INCLUDES guiding vision and strategy; (b) developing a collaborative infrastructure to support the activities of the various entities partnering in the NSF INCLUDES National Network; (c) fostering progress among Network partners toward shared models, measurement practices, and evaluation criteria; (d) communicating the discoveries of and generating enthusiasm for the NSF INCLUDES National Network; and (e) advancing the expansion and scale of the NSF INCLUDES National Network by connecting expertise from multiple sectors and other private and public funders.

Since 1980, the United States-Japan Foundation has supported projects that have involved more than five thousand pre-college teachers in the U.S. and Japan in mutual study and learning on topics related to the U.S.-Japan relationship, including in-depth study of the culture, society, and history of both countries. Through these teachers, as well as through a variety of curriculum materials, Web-based collaborative activities, and partnerships between U.S. and Japanese schools, tens of thousands of young people in both countries have begun to study and understand their mutual connections and the importance of the friendship and partnership that binds the two nations so closely. Through its Pre-College Education Program, USJF supports activities that take advantage of new technology to bring Japanese and American teachers and students together; build human networks among teachers on both sides of the Pacific with a mutual interest in teaching and learning about Japan, the U.S., and U.S.-Japan relations, particularly in the fields of social studies and Japanese-language instruction; and/or invest in regions that have been underserved in terms of exposure to and resources for learning about the other country. The foundation also supports programs that enlist experts at institutions of higher learning and other NGOs in support of U.S.-Japan studies programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in both countries; present the products of research and policy studies and media programs on U.S.-Japan issues to an audience of pre-college students and their teachers; and enhance, expand, and preserve the study of the Japanese language at the pre-college level in the United States through teacher professional development opportunities, national standards, and performance assessments.

The U.S. Embassy to Zambia Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program. This is an Annual Program Statement, outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Project Objectives: We invite proposals for projects that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Zambia through cultural and exchange programming that highlights shared values and promotes bilateral cooperation. All programs must include an American cultural element, or connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives. The U.S. Embassy is expecting two jazz performers, one bluegrass band, and a dance choreographer between July and December 2018. Proposals involving these visits will be prioritized.

The Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program provides funding directly to community-based organizations for projects that help residents of underserved communities understand and address local environmental and public health issues. For purposes of this announcement, the term "underserved community" refers to a community with environmental justice concerns and/or vulnerable populations, including minority, low income, rural, tribal, indigenous, and homeless populations that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and risks. In general, the EJSG program awards grants that support community-driven projects designed to engage, educate, and empower communities to better understand local environmental and public health issues and develop strategies for addressing those issues, building consensus in the community, and setting community priorities. Community-driven projects are projects that include activities where community residents and/or representatives are integrally involved in the thinking behind and execution of those activities. Therefore, applying organizations should have a direct connection to the underserved community impacted by environmental harms and risks.

The U.S. Mission in Iraq announces an open competition for eligible organizations to submit proposals for a grant to implement the U.S.-Iraqi Think Tank Linkage Program for Iraqi Academics and Commentators program. The Public Affairs (PA) Section seeks to connect an influential group of Iraqi think tank representatives with their counterparts in the United States. This program would send ten (10) academics and Iraqi media commentators, selected by Embassy PA staff, to the United States for a ten (10) day exchange program to meet with representatives of American think tanks, U.S. government representatives, and international and media organizations. Topics to be covered include the role of think tanks and policy research institutions in U.S. society, the collaboration of think tanks with educational institutions, NGOs, and government branches, U.S.-Iraq bilateral relations in the post-ISIS era, the continued International Coalition role in Iraq post-ISIS, investment opportunities in Iraq for American companies, Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi's anti-corruption and national reconciliation efforts, and relations between the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government. Subject to the availability of funds, the Embassy expects to award one Grant up to $100,000 to carry out the U.S.-Iraqi Think Tank Linkage Program.

CAO Islamabad's purpose in funding projects under this opportunity is to further contributions to economic growth and development of human and government capacity in Pakistan, while developing people-to-people ties and increasing understanding of and support for U.S.-Pakistan relations and American values and policy among the Pakistani public. Programming funded under this NOFO will help to strengthen ties between the United States and Pakistan through programming that highlights shared values and promotes bilateral cooperation. To that end, all programs must include American content and/or connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives. Proposals must contain a clear plan to measure and evaluate the impact of the program. Preference will be given to proposals that target audiences outside the urban centers of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar and socio-economically disadvantaged and/or vulnerable populations. While proposals that include exchanges outside of Pakistan are welcome, proposals with the majority of activities conducted in Pakistan will be given preference. We encourage recipient organizations to include links to American businesses to promote the growth of U.S.-Pakistan economic ties when possible. We welcome proposals from qualified organizations that have not received CAO funding in the past as well as existing and/or previous PAS grantees, including PAS and U.S. Department of State University Partnership participants, and from members of the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN).