Washington, D.C., financier William Conway, who last year solicited ideas from the public on how to best donate $1-billion to promote long-term job creation, said Tuesday that he will invest the money in education and training programs, The Washington Post writes.

The billionaire co-founder of high-powered financing firm the Carlyle Group told Post columnist Robert McCartney, who has been following the giveaway quest, that he has made an initial round of grants totaling $55-million, supporting scholarships and other financial aid for D.C.-area nursing students, local Catholic schools, and a job-training program in the low-income Anacostia neighborhood.

Mr. Conway said that after reviewing some 2,500 suggestions he abandoned his original idea of directly supporting new jobs in favor of education and training to help link poor people qualify for existing opportunities, particularly in fields such as nursing, where demand is high.

Chuck Bean, president of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, said the financier’s “unprecedented” investment will “put people on the path to independence. … This is good not only for the direct recipients, but I think Mr. Conway’s first tranche of grants will make his home town better for all of us.”

Mr. Conway’s billion-dollar pledge put him on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of 10 donors to watch in 2012.