Skip to main content

4 April 2014

Message from CEO

wsc2013_wsi_bb-2611.jpgWorldSkills is embarking on a new era in its history. This is very exciting as we strategically reposition ourselves as the global hub of skills excellence. We have been operational for almost 65 years and we now take the deliberate focus on showcasing and inspiring skills excellence. Through skills competitions, projects and activities we are actively promoting skilled professions to the world. In addition, we aim to facilitate the sharing of best practices and knowledge transfer around the world. We all have so much to learn from each other and with the WorldSkills extensive network of industry, education and government professionals we can make a huge impact on the level of skills ability and knowledge globally.

We are proud of our new direction and invite all our Members, stakeholders and supporters to work with us on this important road to improve the world with the power of skills. We all own this new vision and need to work together to make the world a better place filled with highly skilled professions.

As I look around the world at our 68 Members and four regional organizations as well as all the grass-root community projects, I see a world that is on its way to significantly impacting the overall level of skills as well as the availability of skills training and education. The sheer volume of amazing and inspiring stories from youth that have discovered skills through a WorldSkills program is humbling. I hear stories all over the world about the impact that learning a skill has had on a young person's life and know that we are making a difference. You should be proud of the collective accomplishments. We are starting to gather all these amazing stories from young people, if you have any that you would like to share please send them to us. These are the stories that current students can relate to and see the opportunity of choosing skills as career options. 

In order to succeed in this new direction, we need everyone in the WorldSkills movement to pledge to work towards our new vision. We all have an important part to play in this strategy. The thing that I have learned overwhelmingly is that everyone connected to WorldSkills has a great passion for skills excellence and the future generation of skilled workers. Let's work together to give them all the tools, resources and knowledge so their career possibilities will naturally include skilled professions. I truly believe we can increase the skill level worldwide through cooperations and knowledge transfer. I challenge all of you to do your piece to make this happen.