U.S. Embassy in BiH OPA: BOLD Small Grants Mentoring Program

The United States Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the Office of Public Affairs (OPA), is pleased to announce a Notice of Funding Opportunity to design and implement the BOLD (BiH Omladinski Lideri, Bosnia and Herzegovina Young Leaders) Small Grants Mentoring Program. The BOLD network is a project of OPA that seeks to empower young people across BiH, age 18-35, through leadership opportunities and training, to implement projects for positive change in their communities. 

This mentoring program is complementary to the BOLD Small Grants Competition, which will be announced separate from this NOFO. 

The Small Grants Competition will be available to all BOLD members to compete for funds of up to $15,000 to implement projects in the areas of economic development and civic engagement over the course of a year. OPA will select the winning proposals in the Competition by the end of June, 2021. Funding will be awarded to grantees of the small grant competition only after they work with the applicant in a mentoring workshop to fine-tune their projects (see no. 1 below).

The goal of the mentoring program is to equip awardees of the grant competition with the skills and support needed, throughout the grant year, to effectively implement their projects in their communities, and to become skilled project managers and grant administrators. The applicant will be expected to guide the winning grantees through the administrative process of receiving their award, successfully implementing their program, handling problems as they arise, and reporting on the project’s progress to OPA. The most qualified applicants will have a thorough understanding of the U.S. Government’s grant process and how to be a steward of those funds for the most effective outcome. Applicants should also be willing and available to expertly impart that knowledge and experience to young grantees who are seeking to successfully make a difference in their communities.