ONA Professional Pathways Program RFA

Closed State & local contract opportunity Posted

Solicitation number
2136199
State
New York
Responses due

Opportunity facts

Updated .

About this opportunity

Written by GovTribe AI ·

The New York State Department of State, Office for New Americans (ONA), is seeking not-for-profit organizations for the Professional Pathways Program RFA #26-ONA-28, with applications due August 3, 2026 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The RFA is divided into two funding tracks: Part A funds one qualified not-for-profit in each of eleven regions to serve as an ONA Job Coach (up to $150,000 per region), and Part B funds one statewide Professional Pathways Lead Agency (up to $570,000). Total first-year funding is approximately $2.22 million with no matching fund requirement.

Applicants must be New York State–located 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations pre-qualified in the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS) by the application due date. An MWBE utilization goal of 30 percent applies.

Part A Job Coaches will recruit, screen, and place high-skilled immigrants (defined as individuals whose foreign university or post-secondary credentials and employability are not recognized by U.S. employers or policies) into employment in region-specific demand fields including healthcare, education, engineering, IT, and business/finance. Coaches must achieve a minimum 50 percent job placement rate for accepted participants, conduct employer outreach, and coordinate with workforce development boards. The statewide Lead Agency will provide program direction, develop screening processes, coordinate industry-specific training, and deliver technical assistance to regional coaches.

Applicants must demonstrate experience working with immigrant communities, managing non-English proficient populations, conducting workforce development programming, recruiting and screening participants, and facilitating job placements. Reimbursable direct costs include salaries and fringe benefits for dedicated staff, travel, supplies, equipment (first year only), outreach materials, rent, and language services. Administrative costs are capped at 10 percent of direct costs.

Applications are evaluated on a 100-point scale (minimum passing score 60) across project summary (10 points), organizational experience and capacity (30 points), program proposal (40 points), and budget (20 points). Contracts are for an initial one-year term with options for three additional one-year renewals. Questions are due June 24, 2026; RFA updates were posted July 7, 2026.

Opportunity text

As posted by the source.

New York State Department of State, through the Office for New America (ONA), is seeking not-for-profit organizations for its Professional Pathways Program. The Professional Pathways Program seeks to help build New York State's economy by supporting the state's ongoing commitment to immigrant empowerment and workforce development by enabling high-skilled immigrants to overcome barriers to professional development through the screening, training and/or re-credentialing of participants and the identification of job placement opportunities in each region of the state. While there is not one agreed-upon definition of "high-skilled immigrant," this RFA defines it as an individual whose university or post-secondary training was conducted outside the United States and whose credentials and employability in their field of training is not recognized by an employer, or national or state policies. The Professional Pathways Program will be specifically tailored for fields in each region of New York State that currently need high-skilled workers. These fields will include, but are not limited to, healthcare, education, engineering, IT, and business/finance. Region-specific industries will be identified using NYS Department of Labor employment projections and data that indicates the "jobs in demand" for each region of New York State. Program partners will also coordinate with employers and workforce development boards in their region of coverage to ensure that they are tapping into existing workforce development initiatives that are working to fill employment gaps.This RFA is divided into two parts: Part A and Part B.Part A will fund one qualified not-for-profit organization in each of the following regions to serve as an ONA Job Coach: Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara Counties) Finger Lakes (Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates Counties Southern Tier (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins Counties) Capital Region (Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Washington Counties) Central New York (Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego Counties) Mohawk Valley (Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, Schoharie Counties) North Country (Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence Counties) Mid-Hudson (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester Counties) Long Island (Nassau, Suffolk Counties) New York City (Bronx, New York, Richmond Counties) New York City (Kings, Queens Counties) Part B will fund one qualified not-for-profit organization to serve as the statewide Professional Pathways Lead Agency. If an agency wishes to apply for more than one award (e.g. more than one Part A region, both Part A and Part B, etc.), a separate application must be submitted. Please see the attached RFA for additional information. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: Please see attached spreadsheet. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 6.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 15.00% WBE Goal: 15.00%

Files

File Type Posted
Past Professional Pathways Grantees.xlsx XLSX spreadsheet
Professional-Pathways-RFA-26-ONA-28.pdf PDF

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