Archives Leadership Institute | LEADERSHIP 201712

Opportunity Information: Apply for LEADERSHIP 201712

The Archives Leadership Institute grant opportunity, offered through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) within the National Archives and Records Administration, invites organizations to run and further develop a leadership training institute specifically for archives professionals. The overall goal is to strengthen the leadership abilities of participants so they can be more effective both inside their own institutions and across the broader archives field. NHPRC originally funded this institute in 2008 and is seeking proposals to continue it in a sustained, structured way.

At the center of the program is a minimum one-week, in-person style institute (or an equivalent format that still meets the intent and intensity) built around contemporary leadership best practices, but tailored to the real-world challenges archives professionals face. Applicants are expected to take full responsibility for the institute end-to-end: designing and developing the curriculum, organizing and administering the program, and selecting the attendees. The curriculum is expected to blend leadership development with archives-specific contexts, not generic management training. Suggested topic areas include technology and its impacts on archives, economic realities and resource constraints, public policy considerations, and managing relationships with constituents and stakeholders. The institute should also cover practical leadership and management areas such as administration, strategic planning, leading organizational change, and fundraising. A key expectation is that participants will have meaningful chances to work on solutions to problems drawn from their own institutions, so the program produces practical outcomes rather than only professional inspiration.

To deliver that mix of leadership training and field-specific relevance, NHPRC expects institute faculty to include both leadership/organizational management experts and experienced archival leaders who understand the profession firsthand. The opportunity notes that applicants may want to look at leadership institute models used in other cultural heritage and information fields, such as the Getty Leadership Institute (museum professionals), the Seminar for Historical Administration (historical sites and museums), and the Leading Change Institute (for librarians and library administrators). These examples are meant to help applicants think about program structure, content depth, and cohort-based professional development methods.

Funding is structured as a single award, with an anticipated project period of up to three years and the expectation that an institute will be held each year beginning in 2019. Depending on the length of the proposed project, an applicant may propose hosting two or three institute sessions over the grant period. The total award ceiling is $250,000, and NHPRC expects to make one award. Recipients must acknowledge NHPRC support in any products and publicity that result from the grant.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of public and nonprofit entities: nonprofit organizations (including 501(c)(3)s), colleges and universities (public or private), state and local government agencies, and federally acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups. Cost sharing is not strictly required in the sense that NHPRC may fund up to 100 percent of the project’s direct costs, but applicants can include cost share through program revenue, indirect costs contributed by the grantee, and additional direct costs covered by the applicant. One important limitation is that NHPRC grant funds cannot be used to pay indirect costs, consistent with the cited federal regulation (2 CFR 2600.101), so applicants need to plan budgets with that restriction in mind.

On the compliance side, applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before submitting an application and must keep that registration active through the application and award process. A valid DUNS number must be included in the application (as stated in the opportunity materials). A complete application package must include the required federal forms and narrative components: Standard Form 424 (Application for Federal Assistance), Standard Form 424B (Assurances for Non-Construction Programs), along with a project narrative, summary, supplementary materials, and a budget. Applications missing any required items are not considered, and ineligible applications are not reviewed.

Key source details tied to this opportunity include the funding opportunity number LEADERSHIP 201712, a discretionary grant instrument, activity category aligned with humanities/cultural affairs (CFDA 89.003), an award ceiling of $250,000, and an original closing date of October 6, 2017 for that cycle.

• The National Archives and Records Administration in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Archives Leadership Institute" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 89.003.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 09, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 06, 2017. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for LEADERSHIP 201712

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