FY 2018 International Visitor Leadership Program | ECA ECAPEV 18 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for ECA ECAPEV 18 001

The FY 2018 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) grant opportunity is a U.S. Department of State funding announcement run through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), specifically the Office of International Visitors (ECA/PE/V). It invites eligible organizations to compete for cooperative agreement awards to help administer the IVLP during the FY 2018 program cycle. The IVLP, founded in 1940, is a long-running professional exchange program that brings current and emerging international leaders to the United States for short-term, carefully structured visits. The core purpose is to strengthen mutual understanding between the United States and other countries while advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives through direct, practical engagement among professionals and decision-makers.

Under this opportunity, the Department of State planned to make up to eight separate assistance awards. These awards are intended to support the design and delivery of IVLP projects that align with foreign policy priorities and also match participants professional backgrounds and interests. In practice, this means award recipients would be expected to build tailored programs that can include meetings, site visits, and professional exchanges with U.S. counterparts in government, civil society, academia, and the private sector, depending on the thematic focus of each delegation. The emphasis is on short-term, high-impact programming that connects visitors with relevant American institutions and experts, and that supports sustained professional relationships after the visit.

The funding mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which generally signals a more hands-on partnership between the federal government and the award recipient than a standard grant. In a cooperative agreement, the agency typically anticipates substantial involvement in guiding or collaborating on programmatic decisions, ensuring that the exchange activities remain consistent with IVLP standards, public diplomacy goals, and policy priorities. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding, and its activity category is listed as "Other," reflecting that it does not fit neatly into a single narrow service category and often spans multiple fields depending on the visitor projects being supported.

Eligibility is broad across several types of institutions, including public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations with IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) status that are not institutions of higher education. The listing also includes "Others," indicating that additional applicant types may qualify as defined in the full announcement, but the central eligibility anchor is the ability to meet federal assistance requirements and, for nonprofits, to document 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code.

Key administrative details include the funding opportunity title (FY 2018 International Visitor Leadership Program) and funding opportunity number (ECA ECAPEV 18 001). The CFDA number associated with the program is 19.402, which corresponds to educational and cultural exchange activities under the Department of State. The announcement was created on 2017-05-11, and the original application closing date was 2017-07-13. The award ceiling listed for the opportunity is $6,600,000, which represents the maximum amount available per the announcement parameters (and in context likely relates to the overall scale of funding being competed for, with final allocations dependent on the number of awards and the scope of funded projects). The notice indicated an expectation of up to eight awards, meaning the Department anticipated funding multiple implementing partners rather than a single organization.

Overall, this opportunity is designed for experienced exchange implementers and institutions capable of organizing complex, short-term professional programs across the United States, coordinating logistics and substantive content, and maintaining strong compliance and reporting systems typical of federal cooperative agreements. The aim is not simply travel support, but a carefully constructed exchange experience that advances public diplomacy, builds professional networks, and produces durable relationships between international leaders and their American counterparts, in ways that align with U.S. foreign policy goals. For full requirements, program expectations, allowable costs, and evaluation and reporting standards, applicants were directed to consult the complete announcement referenced in the notice.

• The Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2018 International Visitor Leadership Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.402.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-05-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-07-13. (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 $6,600,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for ECA ECAPEV 18 001

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