Registration and Schedule

The next cohort starts in August — enroll now!👇🏼

The course is 10 sessions delivered 1-2 times per week. You'll have 10-15 hours of cumulative classroom time, about 1 hour of weekly homework, and an online discussion channel with the instructor and your cohort of classmates for Q&A. Space is limited, and this course usually fills up fast. Enroll by July 15th to guarantee your spot and catch early bird pricing!
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Overall, it was a really useful course and helped delve into very important topics for business development and technical writing in general. The ability to be able to effectively analyze and respond with a compliant and compelling proposal is a real skill. I have been in BD a long time, but this was a really important skill to keep working on.

This is a great introdcutory course to technical writing for USAID. The course was effectively structured, the content was compelling, and all instrcutors provided useful examples to reinforce key concepts.

A lot of folks don't have structured proposal training processes. For those who need to learn, or simply want to validate what they already know, this class offers a great outlet to obtain that knowledge from some of the best in the business.

I really enjoyed how this content was presented and how the course was structured. Having a small group of people over many weeks allowed us to learn together but also the individual homework was really helpful for me to understand how these things were working together and get honest feedback back.

I am already using what I learned, and I know my colleagues could benefit as well.

Meet the instructors

  • Lisa Gihring

    Lisa is an international development and communications specialist with nearly 20 years of experience in strategic communications planning and implementation; business development; project design and management; training and capacity building; and writing, editing, and publishing for domestic and international clients. Professional experience in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

  • Susanne Barsoum

    After a career as a BD Director at Chemonics International, Susanne is building Keylime to make business development more fruitful for everyone through courses like this one. She has worked on hundreds of proposals with a strong win rate. Susanne finds proposal writing the most challenging and intellectually stimulating proposal role. Her experience and networks are primarily in the Middle East, but she has also worked and lived in Nigeria and Haiti, and done assignments globally.

  • Gabriel Pincus

    Gabe specializes in smart urban infrastructure, services, and governance, and also brings expertise in data analytics and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). He is an experienced proposal writer who has written numerous winning technical proposals and dozens of MEL plans. Gabe is currently the Founder and CEO of Sage Cities, and was formerly MEL Manager, Data Analytics Team Lead, and Municipal Governance and Waste Management Advisor with Chemonics International.

Curriculum Preview

  1. 1

    • Syllabus + Everything you need to get started

    • Meet the Instructors

    • Homework: Submit an RFP

    • Pre-Course Survey
  2. 2

    • Live Zoom Session: The Role of the Technical Writer in Capture

    • HW #1: Read an RFP

    • Resources for Module 1
  3. 3

    • Live Zoom Session: The First 48 Hours and Reading the RFP

    • HW #2: Write Questions to USAID

    • Resources for Module 2
  4. 4

    • Live Zoom Session: Outlining

    • HW #3: General Outlining

    • Resources for Module 3

    • Homework with Comments
  5. 5

    • Live Zoom Session: Background and Context

    • Homework #4

    • Resources for Module 4

    • Homework with Lisa's comments
  6. 6

    • Live Zoom Session: General Approach and Strategy

    • Homework #5

    • Resources for Module 5
  7. 7

    • Live Zoom Session: Detailed Approach

    • HW #6: Write a Detailed Approach!

    • Resources for Module 6

    • Reviewed homework assignments
  8. 8

    • Live Zoom Session: The Review Process

    • HW #7: Write a Theory of Change

    • Resources for Module 7
  9. 9

    • Live Zoom Session: Live Q&A: Ask a USAID Contracting Officer

    • HW #8

    • Resources for Module 8
  10. 10

    • Live Zoom Session: MEL For Tech Writers

    • HW #9

    • Resources for Module 9
  11. 11

    • Live Zoom Session: Tech Writing Tips and Tricks

    • Resources for Module 10

    • Post-course evaluation

Questions?

We've got answers

  • What if I cannot attend a live session?

    Every session will be recorded, so if you have to miss a session you'll be able to watch the recorded version. And you'll still have access to the course discussion group where you can ask questions and engage with your peers.

  • What day and time is the weekly live session?

    The weekly live session will be on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays during business hours ET.

  • Who is this course for?

    Ideally you've already had some exposure to USAID projects or proposals and you are familiar with the basic lifecycle of USAID programming. You'll get the most out of the course if you are planning to contribute to proposal writing in the next year — and we'll make sure that you are well prepared to succeed in that role!

  • Is it possible to pay by invoice?

    Yes, use the coupon code SENDANINVOICE and we will send you an invoice for payment by bank transfer.

  • Still have questions?

    Ask us in the chat 👉🏼 or email us: hello@joinkeylime.com

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This is our most popular course — enroll now before it sells out!

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