WorldSkills International outgoing President receives a Fellowship from City & Guilds

By Michelle Bussey, WorldSkills International

On Thursday, Oct. 6th during the City & Guilds Meeting of Council, outgoing WSI President, Tjerk Dusseldorp received a Fellowship from HRH Princess Royal Anne. The City & Guilds Fellowship is the ‘highest award conferred by the Council of the City & Guilds of London Institute, recognising outstanding professional and personal achievement. Fellows are people who have demonstrated excellence in their field, who have gained the respect of their peers and who can be considered role models for their profession.’

As the President of WorldSkills International from 1999 until the end of WorldSkills London 2011, Tjerk Dusseldorp was awarded a Fellowship for his commitment to developing and advancing international excellence in vocational skills training and education. 

The entire WorldSkills family is thrilled with Tjerk’s recognition. Over the 30 years that Tjerk has been involved with WorldSkills (12 years as President), his accomplishments are too extensive to list, however, we would like to highlight a few:

• Leading WSI into the 21st Century as a global organisation (more than an international organisation)
• Strong leadership, wisdom, collaboration and partnership
• Leading WSI with a policy of transparency and inclusiveness on all key decisions
• Key player in the development of the Vision 2010 and now Vision 2020
• Hiring a full time CEO and supporting the development of a full-time (virtual) Secretariat.
• Creation of the WorldSkills Foundationas a complementary organisation to WorldSkills International
• Increasing the status and reputations of WS Champions and being the number 1 advocate for all young skilled professionals
• Creation and success of the WorldSkills Youth Forum