The U.S. Department of State and IREX are excited to announce that applications for the Mandela Day Service Grant, a unique collaboration opportunity for Alumni of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, are now open.
Mandela International Day of Service is officially on July 18; however, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the custodian of his legacy, has advocated for “Making Every Day a Mandela Day” to encourage ongoing volunteerism throughout the year. The Mandela Day Service Grant provides funding to Fellowship Alumni to support short-term service projects that the Fellowship believes will contribute to sustainable community development. Through the grant, up to six Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni (or Alumni teams) will receive up to $1,000 each to implement a short-term community service or volunteer project in honor of Mandela Day.
About the Mandela Day Service Grant
Over the years, many Institute Partners in the United States and Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
stakeholders across the African continent organized volunteer activities, cultural activities, and
leadership-focused events in their respective communities as part of the globally recognized
International Nelson Mandela Day, held annually on July 18. It is recognized as a day to give back and
to make a difference in communities in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s legacy of service and embodiment of servant leadership.
Mandela Day is officially on July 18; however, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the custodian of his
legacy, has advocated for “Making Every Day a Mandela Day” to encourage ongoing volunteerism
throughout the year. The new Mandela Day Service Grant will support community service and
volunteer projects where Alumni actively engage in short-term volunteer-driven community
campaigns that contribute to longer-term projects focused on improving livelihoods. Through the
grant, up to six Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni (or Alumni teams) will receive up to $1,000
each to implement a short-term community service or volunteer project in honor of Mandela Day.
Submission Policies • Applications must follow the instructions in this packet.
- Extra materials outside of the application will not be considered.
- Revisions to applications after submission will also not be considered.
- Only one application per team will be considered.
- Applications must be written in English.
- Selected projects will be announced in March 2024.
After Your project is selected:
The Mandela Service Grant funds short-term service projects that the Fellowship believes will
contribute to sustainable community development. Selected grantees will implement their short-term projects from April to May and will report on all project activities, including recording videos of their projects and documenting impact, in June. Following report and Mandela Day Service Grant Application Instructions video submissions, grantees will refine videos to showcase at the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit and to celebrate Mandela Day 2023.
2024 Mandela Day Service Grant Timeline
Month Activities
- January 8-29 Application period
- March Selected projects announced
- April 1 – May 31 Alumni implement their projects
- June 7 MDSG Project reports due (includes video recordings)
- June 12-21 Refinement of recordings (if coaching and editing is required)
- July 31 – August 2 Summit Showcase and Social Media Campaign celebrating Fellows’
- “Mandela Day” activities
Selection Criteria
Selection Process
- All Mandela Day Service Grant applications will receive an initial screen from at least two judges.
- The judging panel is composed of members from the Mandela Washington Fellowship community with professional experience in developing world entrepreneurship and social enterprise.
- Those serving as judges are not personally involved in the ideas being judged, nor do they have any immediate family involved.
Contestants are evaluated based on:
- Potential for leadership success, as evident by academic and professional background,
relevant skills, and demonstrated passion. - Focus on a short-term project that contributes to sustainable community development
initiatives. - Potential for success of the project, based on the concept note of the application, the
proposed budget, and proposed collaborations. - Please note: Preference will be shown to the first five submissions received from each country
Application Components
- When you are ready, please submit your responses to the following short-answer questions at: 2024 Mandela Day Service Grant Application
- The application is a webform submission, and not a written proposal. You may want to draft your responses in a separate Word document, and then copy and paste them into the webform.
- Applicants have the option to save their progress and return to the form to edit and submit responses.
- Those applicants who select the “Save” button in the webform will be required to register for a free account using their email address to receive a link to the partially filled form to resume their progress.
Ready to Apply?
Application Instructions
- Prepare your application, including your budget proposal, work plan, resume(s), and any
appendices you wish to include, and clearly name your files. Additional documents must
be saved as a PDF. Please clearly name your files. - Submit your application responses at the following link: 2024 Mandela Day Service Grant
Application - Applications are due January 29th, 2024, at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
- Questions?
Email [email protected]
