Media Contacts for SkillsUSA:
Jane Short or Karen Kitzel, 703-777-8810
Email: jshort@skillsusa.org or kkitzel@skillsusa.org
Leesburg, Va., July 24, 2024 — SkillsUSA is sending eight skilled competitors to Lyon, France on Sept. 10-15 to compete in seven events during the 47th biennial WorldSkills Competition. The event showcases trade skills ranging from construction and building technology to creative arts and fashion, information and communication technology, manufacturing and engineering, social and personal services, and transportation and logistics. The 2024 WorldSkills USA team members range in age from 19 to 22 — each a highly skilled young talent who has shown dedication to perfecting their trade skills over the past year as they prepare to compete against others from around the globe.
SkillsUSA — America’s proud champion of the skilled trades — has been the official representative of the United States in the WorldSkills Competition since 1973 with a mission to empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members.
“We’re thrilled the 2024 WorldSkills USA team has the chance to represent the U.S. while excelling at a skill they love,” said SkillsUSA Championships Director Brandon Hudson. “These team members come from across the nation and are competing for different reasons, but they are all focused on a dream of standing on the WorldSkills medal podium to hold the American flag and hear our national anthem fill the arena. With their experts guiding them through individual training plans and with the invaluable support of our event sponsors, we have done our utmost best to prepare this team to compete and win.”
Representing the United States at the WorldSkills competition in Lyon are:
SkillsUSA works year-round to instill career readiness skills in over 400,000 students per year so they can excel in the career of their choice. The organization has 850 national partners and is integral to the technical instruction in more than 22,000 classrooms. SkillsUSA inspires students to follow their passion, mastering trade skills that are invaluable to our nation. Years of work by these eight competitors has led to this upcoming experience of a lifetime: the 2024 WorldSkills competition.
The first WorldSkills competition was held in 1950 in Madrid, Spain. In 1973, SkillsUSA (then called the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) was recognized as the official U.S. representative to WorldSkills. Hundreds of thousands of spectators, public policymakers, employers, teachers, trainers, technical experts and government officials from around the world will attend the 2024 biennial competition in Lyon, France and see the WorldSkills USA team in top form.
Follow the 2024 team on the WorldSkills USA microsite and @WorldSkillsUSA on Facebook, Instagram and X. Share their posts or interact with them using the hashtags #SkillsUSA and #WorldSkillsUSA.
Sponsors of the WorldSkills USA team include American Welding Society; Automotive Service Technology Technical Committee; Caterpillar Inc.; Cummins-Meritor; DENSO; Gene Haas Foundation; Land O’ Lakes; Lincoln Electric Company; PHCC Education Foundation; PPG Industries, Inc.; and Unilever.
SkillsUSA is the #1 workforce development organization for students, empowering them to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. SkillsUSA represents more than 413,000 career and technical education students and teachers in middle schools, high schools and college/ postsecondary institutions nationwide. Those members represent 130 in-demand occupational areas, from 3-D animation to welding. A vital solution to the skills gap, SkillsUSA has served over 15 million members since its founding in 1965. Learn more at skillsusa.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.
Since 1950, WorldSkills has come to symbolize the pinnacle of excellence in vocational training. It provides a unique means of exchange and comparison of world-class competency standards in the industrial trades and service sectors of the global economy. The continued growth of WorldSkills attests to the fact that traditional trade and craft skills, along with newer technology’s multi-skilled occupations, make an essential contribution to the economic and social well-being of people everywhere. For more information, go to: www.worldskills.org.
For more information about SkillsUSA, contact:
The SkillsUSA Advocacy Site is a free service for SkillsUSA members to reach the news media or contact policymakers with your message.
