BALTIC-AMERICAN
DIALOGUE
PROGRAM
WHY PARTICIPATE?
The Baltic-American Dialogue program fosters the exchange of ideas between the Baltic States and U.S. and stimulates international collaboration.
Public organizations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are invited to apply for funds to host speakers from the U.S. to travel to the Baltics. BAFF provides successful applicant organizations with financial support to sponsor American speakers on topics of mutual importance and interest.
Applicant organizations are encouraged to design programs and invite speakers to address the interests of their unique constituencies. Funding is designed to cover expenses such as airfare and local lodging, meals, and transportation.
PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS HOST U.S. SPEAKERS
The laboratory “NARVA – DETROIT: Post-industrial Cities on the Border – Where to?” brought together the Narva community with international guests from Detroit, as well as from neighbouring cities such as Helsinki and Riga.
FUNDING
Since the opportunity to travel to the Baltics and meet with counterparts in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania represents a substantial benefit for potential U.S. speakers, funding does not cover speakers’ fees or honoraria. Rather, funds are intended to cover expenses such as airfare, local transportation, and accommodations and meals. Eligible expenses include:
International airfare
Local transportation
Accommodations
Meals
Other event expenses such as IT support, or translation services
Funding does not cover speakers’ fees or honoraria.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
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Educational institutions such as universities, government entities, nongovernmental organizations such as Chambers of Commerce, social service organizations, and trade and business groups are eligible to apply for funding. Speakers should be chosen according to the needs of the sponsoring group.
Since visibly strengthening U.S.-Baltic ties is a core value for the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation, the strongest proposals will provide opportunities for bilateral learning and exchange of ideas between U.S. speakers and members of Baltic sponsoring institutions. In addition, proposals that promote cross-Baltic collaboration between similar groups or institutions will be given special consideration.
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Applications will be accepted for funding of up to $10,000 USD. Funds will be disbursed as required based on the schedule provided in the application but no more than 60 days prior to the event.
Eligible expenses include:
• International airfare
• Local transportation
• Accommodations
• Meals
• Other event expenses such as IT support, or translation servicesNB! Funding does not cover speakers’ fees or honoraria.
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Proposals will be evaluated by BAFF staff. Funding is intended to augment the professional development opportunities available to host organizations. It is not intended to offset regular budgeted training costs. Special consideration will be given to proposals designed to provide opportunities for bilateral learning and exchange of ideas between American speakers and members of Baltic sponsoring institutions.
• Rationale for training and description of specific training objectives
• How training will be incorporated in practice, including assessment metrics
• Benefit to be gained by both parties (i.e., the sponsoring organization and the speaker)
• Speaker’s CV or resume
• Date or time period of the event.
• Well-researched budget, in USD, for the funds requested
• Marketing or social media plan
• Host institution support
• Size of the audience, further opportunities for collaboration, etc.
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Finalists will be invited to present their proposals in person. Presentations should address:
• Rationale for the topic to be addressed
• Benefit to be gained by both parties (i.e., the sponsoring organization and the speaker)
• Speaker’s CV or resume
• Date or time period of the event.
• Well-researched budget, in USD, for the funds requested
• Adequate public relations including public relations related to BAFF, which may include advance publicity, sale or distribution of tickets, and arrangement for press coverage
• Support the applying or inviting institution will provide
• How the outcome of the event will be measured—assessment metrics for assessing impact of training
DATES & DEADLINES
Application Deadline
January 15
Decision Notification*
March 31
Implementation Period
June - January
Application Deadline
September 15
Decision Notification*
October 31
Implementation Period
January - August
*Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview before the decision notification date.
Apply
Thank you for your interest in applying to the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation (BAFF) Dialogue program. You must complete the application in its entirety and submit all required documents by the published deadline - September 15, 2024. Please review the application checklist.
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR:
BAFF APPLICATION (DOWNLOAD YOUR APPLICATION HERE)
PROJECT PROPOSAL. In a separate document, describe, in free format, the rationale for both the topic and the speaker. Provide a brief explanation of the benefit to be gained by both your organization and the speaker. Include a description of any associated events, such as workshops or student seminars. Provide a media and publicity plan for the event describing the media opportunities for your organization, your guest speaker and for the sponsors, e.g., interviews and event coverage. Finally, describe the criteria you will use to evaluate the outcome of the event.
U.S. SPEAKER’S CV
PROOF OF LEGAL STATUS OF YOUR ORGANIZATION
EMAIL YOUR APPLICATION MATERIALS TO BAFFINFO@CIEE.ORG. Please ensure that your PDF file sizes are below 2 MB.
Funded Projects
SPRING 2024
Name of the project: The future of Animation
Location: Latvia
Implementing organization: Daugavpils school of design Saules Skola
The project was organized mainly as training activities provided by the invited speaker, meetings with teachers and students, and cultural activities in Latvia. The School invited Mr. Stephan Leeper, who is the founding professor of two university-level animation programs, most recently at Central Michigan University where he teaches classes in traditional animation, storytelling, and animated filmmaking. For participation at the Training course 18 students from audiovisual communication design and photo design were selected. Teachers, artists, and other students were invited to participate as spectators and supervisors. During the training course students explored narrative adaptation by navigating from the pages of a traditional sketchbook, to digital image editing. The presentation event welcomed not only school students and teachers but also representatives of City Council, artists and regional, and local mass media.
Name of the project: Hyper Weekend hip-hop and house dance workshops
Location: Latvia
Implementing organization: Latvian Association of Modern and Hip-Hop professional dance
Hyper weekend hip-hop and house dance workshops and lecture on February 10-11, 2024 in Riga, Latvia was a two-day event organized by Latvian Association of Modern and Hip-hop professional dance. Hyper weekend featured dance workshops and lectures on hip-hop culture and house dance with invited expert Caleaf Sellers from USA – one of the pioneers of the culture and true legend from the New York dance movement of the late 80’s, who keeps actively working in the dance scene, traveling around the world, sharing his knowledge and experience. The event consisted of a one-of-a-kind kids academy specifically dedicated to educating the young dancers as well as hip-hop and house dance workshops and laboratories for dancers of all ages and skill levels, jam session, lecture and a panel discussion – all for an audience from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Name of the project: Dynamic triage of Limited Public Health Resources: models as tools for making real-world decisions
Location: Latvia
Implementing organization: University of Latvia
The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to research into how mathematical models could be used to improve public health that varied from groundbreaking to misleading and even dangerous. This variability in the quality of work highlighted the need for ongoing collaborations between scientists, mathematicians, and public health officials that start before the next pandemic takes hold. The objective of this visit was to deepen relationships between the relationships between the Medical and Mathematics faculty at the University of Latvia and public health officials. To that end, Dr. Romero-Severson presented a mini-symposium highlighting the use of mathematical models for the triage of limited public health resources. The symposium highlighted the need not only for technical expertise, and mathematical rigor, but also for a shared set of values that emphasize pragmatism and the need to focus on real public health questions. Dr. Romero-Severson also gave an open lecture covering how our perspectives on biotechnology may be affecting the trajectory of public health funding and argued for a vision of infectious disease surveillance that can be both adaptive to local conditions and provide feedback on the efficacy of intervention programs.
Name of the project: Novatore Impact Summit
Location: Latvia
Implementing organization: Riga Technical University
The third Novatore Impact Summit took place on March 7, 2024 in Riga, bringing together 300 senior and mid-level women executives from the Baltic states who want to develop their businesses and make new business contacts. The conference's main themes were financial well-being, women's leadership, and sustainable living. The event also included workshops to develop women's leadership skills. The summit aims to strengthen women's economic empowerment and prosperity by promoting women's leadership in senior business positions and entrepreneurship. Men equally are invited to attend to learn about the importance of equal opportunities for business and national economic development. The conference featured presentations by international and local leaders sharing their experiences, knowledge, and personal stories. The keynote speaker, brought to Latvia with the support of BAFF, was Linda Scott, Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Oxford University.