President Trump will sign a memorandum on Monday that pours $200 million into programs that encourage computer science and technology education in schools, an initiative spearheaded by his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
“In recent years, with growing technological advancement, the nature of our workforce has increasingly shifted to jobs requiring a different skill set,” Ivanka Trump told reporters on a conference call Monday.
The first daughter said she has worked with business leaders, the Department of Labor, governors, and nonprofits to develop the initiative, which she said will include programs “designed with gender and racial diversity in mind.”
The $200 million in funding will come in the form of grants and will not require additional legislation from Congress, a senior administration official said.
“It’s minimum of $200 million,” the official said. “It could, and most likely will, end up being more than that.”
Ivanka Trump, who serves alongside her husband as an adviser to the president, has championed technology-based education since joining the administration with a particular focus on girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering and math, fields in which women are often underrepresented.
