Jos de Goey confirmed as new WorldSkills President

WorldSkills International has chosen Jos de Goey as the new President in a day of important changes announced at the 2019 General Assembly in Russia.

Currently WorldSkills Vice President and a  CEO of WorldSkills Netherlands, Mr de Goey was elected unopposed after a unanimous show of hands by Members at the meeting on the eve of WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

His four-year term of office officially begins at the conclusion of the 45th WorldSkills Competition, which also sees current President Simon Bartley stepping down after eight years.

After the result, Mr de Goey said his priorities as new President were the sustainability of the Competition and strengthening the position of Members in their countries and regions.

“We have to work together to make a success,” he said.

Members also voted two new Board Members. Ekaterina Loshkareva of Russia and Chris Humphries of the United Kingdom were elected to serve on WorldSkills Strategic Development Committee.

They received the two highest votes in a ballot of three candidates, with 63 Members taking part.

Chris Humphries is a past Official Delegate and current Honorary Member of WorldSkills. He has been involved with WorldSkills at the UK and International levels for almost 20 years.

After leading the successful bid for WorkSkills London 2011, he supported the WorldSkills Board as Honorary Member at three WorldSkills Competitions and was co-collator and principal writer of the Vision 2025 Strategic Plan.

Ekaterina Loshkareva is Director of Research and Development for WorldSkills Russia, Russian Federation Official Delegate to WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Europe, Member of WorldSkills Russia Supervisory Board, and Member of WorldSkills Conference Coalition.

Head of the Skills Development Working Group within BRICS Business Council since 2017, she was responsible for the establishment and development of WorldSkills in Russia and in 2019, received her Honorary Diploma from the President of the Russian Federation.

The General Assembly also reconfirmed Stefan Praschl as Board member for the Competition Committee, as the sole candidate and by a unanimous show of hands by Members.