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Giving away one billion dollars

Thursday, September 27 08:38:22

Mega rich founder of the Carlyle Group Bill Conway has decided to give away $1billion and he invited the public to come forward with ideas. Conway received thousands of such ideas and has concluded that he can do the most good, over the long haul, by helping low-income people get the education and training they need to land jobs that are already available.

The impact could be significant in a region where tens of thousands of jobs go begging because local residents are unprepared for them.

Conway disclosed Tuesday that he's making a down payment on his $1 billion promise with an initial round of grants totaling $55 million. Most will go to scholarships and other tuition assistance to help nursing students at area universities and children at Catholic schools, and to fund a job training program in Anacostia.

"I want to give away the money. I don't want to die with it. I want the money to be used well," Conway, 63, said in an interview. He spoke in the Pennsylvania Avenue offices of Carlyle Group, the mega-successful international financing company of which he is co-chief executive and a co-founder.

Conway's grants are unusually large for the kinds of organizations that he is targeting, and there's more to come.