Draft Scope of Work Climate Hub Fund - June12.pdf

Draft Scope of Work for Climate Solutions and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (Draft until finalized)

Applicant Name/Recipient Name

Name of Applicant Organization/Name of Recipient Organization

NOFO Title/Project Title Climate Solutions and Sustainable Entrepreneurship Fund

Federal Assistance Listing Number

19.XXX

Period of Performance 12-36 months

GP Program Strategic Goals and Objectives

The Office of Global Partnerships (GP) of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has launched the Climate Solutions and Sustainable Entrepreneurship Fund (CSSEF) to drive sustainability-focused programming in dedicated hubs and spaces in developing economies that strives to capacitate local entrepreneurs and increase their ability to scale climate solutions to market. GP hopes to help create local communities of entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-support organizations around these hubs that are more market-savvy, more resourced, more cooperative amongst each other, and better able to generate climate solutions.

Proposals that work to enable an economic response to the climate crisis, such as coaching and mentorship curriculum, capital-raising guidance, recruitment and education of environmentally-focused entrepreneurs, network building, and other economic engagement are welcome. These examples are only made for illustrative purposes and the Department welcomes hearing of the creativity from the private sector. The CSSEF is not intended to physically improve or enhance existing climate spaces (eg purchasing new computers, cleaning and repurposing spaces, adding additional rooms to a hub, etc), nor are the funds intended to cover pre-existing operational expenses. Instead, proposals must focus on providing market-oriented, community-based programming from expert sources.

The primary objectives concern convening sustainability-focused entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds, developing and providing programming and services that measurably increase their capacity to ideate and scale climate solutions, and foster a community of support, drawing upon expertise from both inside and outside of the hub, that local entrepreneurs will be able to contribute to and benefit from long after the termination of programming. In order to draw upon the most relevant expertise and build a community around the hub, implementers should strive to collaborate with local accelerators, universities, individuals, and so on to provide programming from a variety of sources. The hub should also strive to convene and provide programming for underrepresented demographics, such as women entrepreneurs.

(Must at a minimum include citations for authorizing statutes and regulations.)

GP Program Background and

Description

GP has launched the Climate Solutions and Sustainable Entrepreneurship Fund (CSSEF) as part of its larger

Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship program, which broadly seeks to empower sustainability-focused entrepreneurs globally and help them scale climate-focused solutions to market.

GP believes makerspaces and labs provide a unique capability of convening the resources of established partners such as governments, large corporations, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, etc with the creativity and drive of entrepreneurs and small businesses while creating a community of collaboration, encouragement, and mutual support. Building new effective and long-term partnerships can spur innovation and create new paths for development solutions to accelerate progress at the country and community level.

GP defines “sustainability-focused” for this funding opportunity as having a focus on clean energy, sustainable agriculture, climate finance, climate resilience and adaptation, and restorative ventures. GP defines a hub, for the purpose of this funding opportunity, as a physical space dedicated to convening impact-driven entrepreneurs and small businesses and providing them reliable access to software, hardware, and subject matter expertise and guidance in order to drive progress towards economic prosperity and social impact. GP defines programming as a series of engagements, services, and education provided to participants in order to meet the three objectives of convening entrepreneurs, empowering them, and building a community of support around the hub.

Project Location E/GP will determine priority regions and Economic Support Fund (ESF) eligible countries in consultation with

Department of State stakeholders. Programming could take place in any of the following geographic regions:

Sub Saharan Africa (AF), East Asia Pacific (EAP), Europe and Eurasia (EUR), Near East and North Africa (NEA), South and Central Asia (SCA), and Western Hemisphere (WHA). Funds in the following countries are subject to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Comoros, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, South Sudan, Burma, China (PRC), Malaysia, Russia, Algeria, Iran, Syria, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela.

Project Goals and Objectives Projects that work to enable an economic response to the climate crisis, such as coaching and mentorship curriculum, capital-raising guidance, recruitment and education of environmentally-focused entrepreneurs, event management, and other economic engagement are welcome.

NOTE: The objectives and indicators below are subject to negotiation, and alternate proposals for objectives and indicators to measure process may be discussed as long as they further the overall strategic goals of the climate fund. END NOTE

Projects should be designed to achieve the following:

Objective 1: Convene in a dedicated space sustainability-focused entrepreneurs and founders passionate about developing and scaling solutions to the climate crisis in order to provide educational services to relevant participants over the course of the program.

Objective 2: Measurably increase the capacity of entrepreneurs and founders to scale solutions, obtain finance, reach market deployment, and expand market share.

Objective 3: Foster a community of founders and entrepreneur-support organizations where additional partners seek to support emerging, sustainability-focused solutions.

Objective 1 Bureau Policy Objective: Convene sustainability-focused entrepreneurs and founders passionate about developing and scaling solutions to the climate crisis in order to provide educational services to relevant participants over the course of the program.

Applicant Project Objective 1:

Activities To achieve the goals and expected results, the program should include the following:

• Source and provide leading, expert opinions in the field of clean energy, sustainable agriculture, climate resilience and adaptation, climate capital, natural resource management, and other sustainability-related fields.

• Tap into local, domestic expertise with familiarity of regional markets and regional considerations.

• Create programming focused on convening entrepreneurs from a diversity of backgrounds from multiple different sources, with a focus on providing economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

To achieve the goals and expected results, the program could include the following:

• Diversification of speakers to include subject matter expertise on sustainability, the climate crisis, and/or local market conditions.

• Factor in local and cultural considerations to facilitate and ease the burden of participation on applicants (eg adjusted hours during rainy seasons, scheduling that accounts for possible day jobs, etc) .

• Reach out to the local ecosystem of entrepreneur-support organizations. Local universities, incubators, accelerators, etc could be tapped into to put participants

Expected Results Specific results could include the following:

• 43 entrepreneurs with working concepts educated in a 12-month course about pitch refinement, capital-raising, and management.

• Hosted 12 workshops over an 18 month period focusing on clean energy and electrical grid efficiency

• 61% of participant pool comprised of women

• 150 days of Sustainable Development Goal-focused curriculum provided in the 2024 calendar year

Performance Indicators:

• [EG 4.2-4] Number of days of USG-funded training provided to support small and medium enterprise development, Disaggregated by SME, Women-owned SME

• [EG.5-12] Number of small and medium-sized enterprises supported by USG assistance

• [EG.5-3] Number of microenterprises supported by USG assistance

• Indicators may be negotiated, and alternative indicators may be added for consideration

Inputs (resource and time requirements):

• XXX

Outputs (actions completed and/or items produced):

• XXX

• XXX

Targets (measurable; quarterly and/or other milestones):

• XXX

• XXX

• XXX

Outcomes (results or changes caused by these activities):

• XXX

Objective 2 Bureau Policy Objective: Measurably increase the capacity of entrepreneurs and founders to scale solutions, obtain finance, reach market deployment, and expand market share.

Applicant Project Objective 2:

• A specific focus on market deployment as the ultimate objective of participants.

• Connecting participants to possible sources of funding and leveraging networks with expertise and connections to traditional and alternative forms of finance.

• Providing qualified and expert feedback on entrepreneur concepts vis a vis market viability

• Feature input from locally active SMEs that recently scaled a concept to market deployment.

• Social and networking aspects, such as receptions and demo days, where participants might mingle and meet with potential funders.

• Focus either exclusively on participants with existing products or entrepreneurs that have not yet produced a market-ready product or service.

• X% of participants received increased funding after programming.

• Participants experienced an X% increase in funding on average after programming.

• X participants deployed products or services to the public market within one year of completion of programming.

• X% increase in sales of participants with established products over a one year period.

Performance Indicators (all required F Indicators must be included in this section):

• [EG.2-12] Number of private sector enterprises with increased access to finance due to USG assistance, disaggregated by microenterprise (very poor); small enterprise; medium enterprise and/or; female owned, controlled, managed

• [EG.5-15] Percentage change in sales of firms receiving USG-funded assistance. Disaggregate by domestic, international

• [STIR-11] Number of innovations supported through USG assistance with demonstrated uptake by the public and/or private sector

• [EG 11-4] Amount of investment mobilized (in USD) for climate change adaptation as supported by USG assistance, disaggregate by public, domestic; public, international; private, domestic; private, international

• XXX

• XXX

Targets (measurable; quarterly and/or other milestones):

• XXX

• XXX

• XXX

Outcomes (results or changes caused by these activities):

• XXX

Objective 3 Bureau Policy Objective: Foster a community of founders and entrepreneur-support organizations where additional partners seek to support emerging, sustainability-focused solutions.

Applicant Project Objective 3:

• Fostering a feeling of camaraderie, cooperation, and support among the participants of the program such that collaboration continues after the program.

• Working with third party experts or organizations to source curriculum and material from numerous entrepreneur-support organizations and individuals, such as accelerators, universities, or business leaders, from the field.

• Encourage participants to share best practices for sustainability and economic prosperity with their communities.

• Group visits to sites of ecological or industry-related importance.

• Exercises where participants ideate and propose a concept as a team.

• Host an event (eg a pitch competition, a reception, or a set number of days of curriculum) at another makerspace, university, or place of learning to encourage networking among different cohorts of entrepreneurs.

• X number of third-party entrepreneur-support-organizations assisted in providing curriculum and services to participants

• X number of public, networking events hosted

• X number of ventures formed jointly between two or more participants

• X number of community workshops hosted by participants of the program

Performance Indicators (all required F Indicators must be included in this section):

• [EG 10.2-3] Number of people with improved economic benefits derived from sustainable natural resource management and/or biodiversity conservation as a result of USG assistance

• [EG 11-6] Number of people using climate information or implementing risk-reducing actions to improve resilience to climate change as supported by USG assistance

• [YOUTH-5] Percentage of youth who participate in civic engagement activities following soft skills/life skills training or initiatives from USG assisted programs, disaggregate by number of males age 18-29, number of females age 18-29

• [PSE-4] Value of private sector resources leveraged by the USG to support U.S. Foreign Assistance Objectives, disaggregated by cash; in-kind; debt-financing; non-debt financing; U.S.-based, host country-based; third country-based; environment; food security, nutrition, and resilience; water, sanitation, hygiene, water management

Targets (measurable; quarterly and/or other milestones):

• XXX

Outcomes (results or changes caused by these activities):

Sustainability Applicant’s/Recipient’s plan for continuing the program beyond the funding opportunity period, or the availability of other resources, if applicable. Include ways program activities will ensure sustainability.