The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the implementation of its 2026 Tech Youth Program.
Donor Name: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/06/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Tech Youth is a new three-week, U.S.-based youth exchange that will equip young innovators with essential technical, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills to lead effectively and succeed in emerging industries. Participants will gain hands-on experience through job shadowing, site visits to U.S. companies, meetings with industry leaders, and intensive coursework and hands-on training. The program advances U.S. efforts to secure technological advantage over strategic competitors.
The program will support approximately 96 American and international participants from select countries worldwide in pre-exchange activities, the three-week U.S.-based exchange post exchange alumni engagement, and implementation of required capstone projects that address real-world economic and business challenges.
Objectives
- Advance participant and beneficiary cross-cultural competence and global perspective
- Increase the impact that participants and alumni have on their communities / countries
- Strengthen engagement among participants, alumni, beneficiaries, and institutions
- Strengthen personal, professional, and technical abilities and aptitudes of participants and beneficiaries
- Enhance the quality and effectiveness of ECA programs by leveraging the Bureau’s resources, policy, and stakeholder relationships
Funding Information
- Award Amount: Approximately $1,100,000, pending the availability of funds
- Total Available Funding: Approximately $1,100,000, pending the availability of funds
Grant Period
15 months
Allowable Costs
- Allowable costs may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Staff salaries and benefits
- Staff travel
- Application and educational materials
- Participant travel (international airfare, domestic travel, ground transportation within the United States, passport and visa fees). This should include travel expenses for American participants
- Flight chaperone travel expenses
- Orientations
- Food (primarily group meals)
- Cultural and social activities
- Meeting costs/room rentals
- Lodging when not in homestays
- Follow-on activities (including alumni events/activities that Tech Youth participants together with other ECA program alumni for networking and mentorships)
- Participant support (to be used to accommodate participants who may require extra support to fully participate in the program, including, but not limited to, those with disabilities or financial hardship)
- Program performance monitoring and evaluation
- Participant stipends for incidental expenses
- Costs related to the development of an online application system
- Other justifiable expenses directly related to supporting program activities
Eligibility Criteri
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- U.S. Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non governmental organizations
- U.S. Not-for-profit public and private educational institutions
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
