Description
A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Executive Summary: The U.S. Department of State's Consulate General in Almaty, Kazakhstan announces an open competition to implement Go Viral, a program aiming to diversify Central Asia's economy by developing emerging talent in youth 18-35 in entrepreneurship, culture, technology, creative industries, and media. By establishing a comprehensive experiential curriculum and fostering an interactive educational environment with expert-led sessions, we envision the program will nurture regional talent, facilitate knowledge exchange, and foster regional interconnectivity. Additionally, the program will organize at least one regional festival to showcase participants' achievements and maintain an extensive network of industry professionals to ensure ongoing collaboration and support. This effort seeks to drive economic diversification, enhance regional interconnectivity, and integrate U.S. expertise into Central Asia's development. Background: Past project activities: Go Viral began in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2017, inspired by the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, aiming to empower a new generation of voices and ideas in Central Asia. While Central Asia is home to thousands of energetic young innovators in business, media, culture, and technology, they lacked a platform to share their ideas, a mechanism to network with partners across the region, and an opportunity to engage with leading practitioners from the United States and Eastern Europe. Go Viral sought to address this need by creating, facilitating, and sustaining connections among regional influencers, innovators, and creative people to share ideas, help achieve their goals, and solve problems important to them and their communities. In the past four years, the annual festival has grown and evolved, along with the network, strengthened by an increasing number of country-specific events throughout the year in all five Central Asian countries. The project brings together people who are influencers, entrepreneurs, tech experts, creative professionals, and media specialists to share their knowledge, come up with new ideas, and make important connections during the events. The festival's collaborative environment helps people from different fields learn about each other and work together, creating exciting partnerships across fields and countries. Through workshops, seminars, and hands-on sessions, attendees learn about the latest trends and technologies with a focus on innovation that gives people in the region the skills they need to succeed in a fast-changing economy and information landscape. By supporting the growth of creative industries, the project has been helping create a more diversified and stronger economy for Central Asia. Problem Statement: Although civil society is playing an increasing role in addressing local and regional challenges, connections between these individuals, and access to best practices, remain limited across Central Asia. Central Asia has traditionally been dependent on a limited range of industries, and there is a need to invest in creative or emerging industries to help diversify its economy, creating a more robust and varied economic landscape, requiring foreign investment, as well as cooperation among public and private sector professionals. Improving interconnectedness among Central Asian states is equally important for fostering regional stability and cooperation, which can drive collective economic growth and innovation. We aim to address these issues through this funding opportunity, providing the necessary resources and support to provide a platform through which creative, motivated, civic-minded individuals across Central Asia can collaborate, forming a durable, self-sustaining network of innovators to help promote the region’s economic and social development. Project Audience(s): Established Opinion Leaders 1. Social Media Macro- and Micro-Influencers 2. Entrepreneurs 3. Tech Experts 4. Creative Industry Professionals 5. Media Figures Emerging Voices: 1. Young Entrepreneurs 2. Aspiring Tech Innovators 3. Creative Industry Students 4. Up-and-coming Media Professionals 5. New Influencers in Digital Platforms 6. Alumni of other USG programs Beneficiaries: 1. Civil society organizations advocating on key issues, such as climate, education, women’s empowerment, etc. 2. Community leaders, including individual civic activists 3. Young professionals (ages 21-45) Project Goal: Improve regional connectivity, promote diversified economic growth, and strengthen civil society in all five Central Asian countries by establishing and maintaining strong collaborations among a new generation of innovative Central Asian opinion leaders. Project Objectives: Objective 1: Develop a sense of shared responsibility and community among Central Asian emerging leaders and established opinion leaders through regional networking, training, and partnership opportunities, including a regional festival for around 75 Emerging Voices. Objective 2: Equip a minimum of 75 Emerging Voices of the Go Viral network with essential skills, knowledge, and resources in entrepreneurship, technology, creative industries, and media sectors through structured hands-on training opportunities and engagement with Established Opinion Leaders in Central Asia, as well as U.S. and other international experts. Objective 3: Facilitate knowledge sharing between Established Opinion Leaders and civic-minded youth and community organizations to develop innovative solutions and address key challenges across Central Asia. Proposed Project Activities: Recruitment of emerging voices: (Reference: Objective 2) · Identify and recruit around 75 motivated Emerging Voices from the region, with at least 10 participants from each Central Asian country. Emerging Voices can be members of the existing Go Viral Network or new participants. · Organize a series of comprehensive training sessions tailored to equip these emerging leaders with essential skills in entrepreneurship, technology, creative industries, and media. 2. Establish learning curriculum and environment: (Reference: Objective 2) · Develop a robust curriculum in collaboration with international and regional experts from the fields of business, culture, technology, creative industries, and media. · Create an engaging and interactive learning environment that facilitates knowledge transfer, practical application, and collaborative problem-solving. · Hold Go Nights, which combine training and networking and provide members with a chance to connect with like-minded individuals and develop new skills. Go Nights can often be held at American Spaces free of charge, in coordination with the U.S. Embassy. For reference, Previous implementers held Go Nights at least once every three months per country. Engaging and mentoring civic-minded youth and community organizations (Reference: Objective 3) · Organize training and mentorship activities for civically engaged youth and community organizations to learn new skills, such as social media skills for nascent local organizations to expand their audiences. Promote regional exchange and connections (Reference: Objectives 1-2) · Design and implement travel opportunities that allow the recruited participants to engage with their peers across Central Asia for targeted learning opportunities. · Promote cultural exchange, knowledge sharing, and the development of regional networks through these interactions. Organize a regional festival (Reference: Objective 1) · Plan and execute at least one regional festival to showcase the talents and projects of the participants. Depending on the concept, the festival may include one closed day for the 75+ Emerging Voices participants and an open day for the program beneficiaries, such as young professionals ages 21-45. · Use the festival(s) as a platform to highlight the potential of the creative and technological industries in Central Asia, fostering greater regional cooperation, and attracting international attention and investment. Maintain and manage the existing network of members: · Maintain, manage, and update the existing network of influencers, entrepreneurs, tech experts, creatives, and media professionals. · Facilitate continuous engagement through regular updates, virtual meetups, and Go Nights, ensuring sustained support and connection among members, as budget allows. · Utilize social media appropriately to manage and maintain the existing network of members, creating regular content to maintain audience interest and increase attendance at open events or festivals. Grantees may consider utilizing a full-time social media expert on this project.