Freedom 250: Kazakhstan Youth Leadership Camp | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

Freedom 250: Kazakhstan Youth Leadership Camp is a U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan grant opportunity to fund one organization to design and run a youth leadership camp in summer 2026. The program is built specifically for FLEX program alternates for the 2026-2027 cycle, meaning strong applicants who reached semifinalist/alternate status but were not selected as finalists because of limited exchange slots. The camp is meant to extend the benefits of the FLEX pipeline to a wider group of high-potential young people and to keep them engaged with U.S.-linked learning and networks even if they are not traveling to the United States through FLEX.

The camp will serve up to 50 participants, generally ages 15 to 17, and is expected to include youth from different regions of Kazakhstan, not just Astana and Almaty. The implementing organization must propose the camp location, with the idea that bringing students together from across the country helps build a national network of young leaders. The participant mix can include high school students as well as first- and second-year college students, as long as they are FLEX alternates/semi-finalists in the specified cycle.

Program content is centered on entrepreneurship and practical career preparation through a U.S. lens. Core themes include U.S. entrepreneurship case studies, business project design and planning, public speaking in English, and financial literacy, with an overall emphasis on leadership development and what the announcement calls U.S. best practices and American excellence. The model anticipates bringing in U.S. speakers as trainers and using FLEX alumni as mentors, which ties the camp to the broader U.S. Government exchange alumni ecosystem and reinforces peer-to-peer learning and mentorship.

The camp is framed around Freedom250, the 2026 commemoration connected to the United States' founding, and uses that milestone to highlight American values such as innovation, entrepreneurship, and opportunity. Beyond skills training, the program is intended to deepen participants' understanding of U.S. business culture and entrepreneurial models, and to prepare them to support longer-term U.S.-Kazakhstan cooperation, especially in economic partnerships and future engagement with American businesses. A practical extension is also encouraged: the most active participants may get the opportunity to implement local entrepreneurship projects after the camp, turning training into real community-level action.

The opportunity lays out clear, measurable objectives and targets. First, it aims to strengthen leadership and career readiness skills for up to 50 youth, with at least 80 percent expected to show a 20 percent or greater improvement based on pre- and post-training assessments and observation rubrics aligned to defined skill benchmarks. Second, it seeks increased understanding of U.S. business culture and entrepreneurship (such as innovation-driven planning, social entrepreneurship, and startup ecosystems), again expecting at least 80 percent of participants to demonstrate knowledge gains via pre- and post-camp assessments. Third, it focuses on applied entrepreneurship outputs: at least 80 percent of participants should develop and submit a project proposal, and 50 proposals should score at least 75 on a standardized evaluation rubric. Fourth, it prioritizes sustained networks by connecting youth with U.S. Government exchange alumni, with a goal of ongoing mentorship lasting at least three months beyond the camp for 10 to 15 participants, tracked through follow-up surveys and engagement logs.

Proposals that actively use U.S. Department of State-supported resources in Kazakhstan are preferred, including RELO (Regional English Language Office) programming, American Spaces, Makerspaces, and EducationUSA. This preference signals that the Mission wants projects that plug into existing platforms, extend their reach, and create durable local touchpoints for continued learning and alumni engagement after the camp ends.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary award from the U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan under Funding Opportunity Number DOS KAZ AST PDS 26 001. The instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies closer coordination with the funding agency during implementation than a standard grant. The program plans to make one award with a ceiling of USD 80,000. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations (including NGOs and think tanks), public and private educational institutions, public international organizations, and governmental institutions. The application deadline listed is April 17, 2026 (original closing date), and the program is categorized under CFDA 19.040.

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