FIFA has appointed Ivanka Trump to the advisory board of a $100 million education fund, alongside celebrities like Shakira, The Weeknd and Serena Williams. The fund, created with Global Citizen, aims to support grassroots education in over 200 countries and is partly funded by 2026 World Cup ticket sales. Already $30 million has been raised toward the target, with $1 allocated from each ticket sold.
FIFA announced on Monday that Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has joined the advisory board of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The board includes tennis star Serena Williams, singers Shakira and The Weeknd, actor Hugh Jackman, soccer star Kaka, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans, and other figures from entertainment, sports and business.
The board's role is to provide strategic guidance to maximize the fund's reach and impact, drawing on members' experiences to enhance education accessibility worldwide. The initiative splits resources between grants for grassroots education programs in more than 200 countries and FIFA's global schools program. Grants of up to $250,000 are available to organizations offering education and sport access for children in underserved communities. Applications can be submitted via globalcitizen.org/education-fund-apply, with the first grantees to be announced in early 2026.
The fund targets raising $100 million, with $30 million already secured. Funding includes $1 from each ticket sold for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, expecting over seven million spectators across 104 matches in 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. The final is set for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where President Trump is scheduled to present the trophy to the winning captain. He is also expected to attend the World Cup draw on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Ivanka Trump has prior FIFA connections, having participated with her son Theodore in the organization's Club World Cup draw ceremony in Miami last December. The partnership highlights Global Citizen's efforts amid reports that 350 million children worldwide are out of school, aiming to reach 100,000 children across 200-plus communities.