My Climate Story, U.S. Embassy Suva | PD SUVA 2022 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for PD SUVA 2022 01

The My Climate Story grant opportunity is a U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy Suva funding call for one organization to run a regional, virtual storytelling and smartphone filmmaking program for youth across several Pacific Island Countries, specifically Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Nauru. The core idea is to help Pacific Islanders document and communicate the real, local impacts of climate change in their own communities, using short films and personal narratives to build broader regional and international awareness. The program is designed around the reality that many participants will not have professional audiovisual gear, so the training emphasizes practical filming, editing, and narrative techniques that can be done on a smartphone, supported by basic computer access where possible.

The program’s main objective is to turn lived experience into effective climate advocacy by amplifying community-level voices that are often missing from high-level climate conversations. The Embassy frames Pacific Island Countries as among the earliest and most immediate victims of climate change, facing threats like rising sea levels and disrupted livelihoods while having limited capacity to influence emissions at a global scale. In that context, the grant treats storytelling as a powerful tool: a way to put human faces and specific, place-based realities at the center of climate discussions, helping audiences outside the region better understand the urgency and stakes for Pacific communities.

The selected grantee is expected to design and deliver a clearly structured eight-week series of virtual master classes focused on storytelling and filmmaking, including a draft schedule of the virtual sessions as part of the application. Beyond delivering the sessions, the organization must actively manage the learning process by assigning regular work, tracking participant progress, and giving constructive feedback that helps participants improve their footage, editing choices, and narrative clarity. The training should be accessible and realistic for beginners or emerging creators, with an emphasis on capturing usable video and audio on phones, editing with limited tools, and building a compelling story arc that communicates climate impacts credibly and emotionally.

Participation is expected to be competitive and country-based, with the grantee recruiting up to ten participants per country (potentially up to about fifty total across the five named countries), and with final participant approval handled by U.S. Embassy Suva. The target participants are youth who already show interest in climate issues and demonstrate some aptitude for social media and content creation, suggesting the program is meant to produce stories that can travel online and reach audiences beyond the immediate community. U.S. Embassy American Spaces and other local venues may support implementation by hosting the virtual trainings and providing internet and computers for editing, which is important in locations where home connectivity or hardware may be limited.

A key culminating activity is an Embassy-sponsored showcase where participants submit their completed short films. This showcase functions both as a capstone learning milestone and as a public-facing awareness effort, with an added incentive of prizes and the explicit goal of elevating Pacific climate stories onto a broader international platform. In practical terms, that means applicants should plan not only for instruction but also for a coherent end-to-end production pipeline: topic selection, filming, rough cuts, feedback cycles, final exports, and submission logistics that work across multiple countries and time zones.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this is a cooperative agreement with one anticipated award. The total funding available is up to USD 30,000, with individual award amounts expected to fall between USD 25,000 and USD 30,000. The performance period can be up to one year on paper, but proposed programs are expected to be completed in six months or less, indicating the Embassy wants a relatively fast, tightly managed project. Funding is provided through American Spaces Support Funds and the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). Cost sharing is encouraged but not required; however, proposals that document cost share (cash or in-kind, such as volunteer time or donated venue space) can earn up to five bonus points during review.

The application package has very specific formatting and content requirements. Submissions must be in English, budgets must be in U.S. dollars, pages must be numbered, and documents should be formatted for 8.5 x 11 paper. Microsoft Word documents must be single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, with at least one-inch margins. Applicants must include a summary cover sheet and a proposal narrative of no more than five pages that lays out the program clearly enough for a reviewer unfamiliar with the idea to understand exactly what will happen. The proposal must include a program summary with intended impact, an organizational background that demonstrates capacity (including any prior U.S. government or Embassy grant experience), a description of activities, methods/design (a logic model if appropriate), a timeline with dates/times/locations, key personnel and time allocations, partners and any sub-awardees, a monitoring and evaluation plan, and a sustainability or continuation plan. Required attachments include one-page CVs for key personnel, letters of support from partners defining roles, and any required permission letters. Applicants must also submit a detailed budget using the SF-424A plus a budget justification narrative explaining each cost.

Applications were due August 12, 2022, and had to be submitted by email to PDSuva@state.gov. Proposals are reviewed by a Grants Review Committee using a point-based rubric that emphasizes both program quality and implementation capacity. The scoring categories prioritize the quality and feasibility of the idea (25 points) and organizational capacity/financial controls (25 points), followed by planning and ability to achieve objectives (15), monitoring and evaluation (15), budget realism and justification (10), and sustainability beyond the grant period (10). Cost share can add up to five bonus points on top of the base score. On the compliance side, recipients must follow federal assistance rules and Department of State standard terms and conditions (including branding/marking requirements) and submit both financial and program reports mid-project and at closeout. Payments are made electronically, and awardees may only begin incurring costs on or after the official start date on the signed award document. The opportunity also notes a straightforward restriction: grant funds cannot be used to purchase alcoholic beverages.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to Fiji in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "My Climate Story, U.S. Embassy Suva" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.017.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 21, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 12, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $30,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for PD SUVA 2022 01

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: