{"id":32495,"date":"2026-09-20T14:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?p=32495"},"modified":"2026-09-20T14:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T11:24:22","slug":"q1-2026-executive-directors-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/blog\/q1-2026-executive-directors-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Q1 2026 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR&#8217;S MESSAGE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What happens when skills meet opportunity?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A message from Dr. Clet Wandui Masiga, Executive Director, TRIDI<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A skill can change the direction of a young person&#8217;s life. But a skill on its own is not always enough. The real transformation happens when that skill is connected to quality training, confidence, assessment, mentorship, markets and an opportunity to put knowledge into practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is the thinking behind much of the work we have undertaken this quarter. Through the Sustainable Inclusive Youth Employment Pathways programme, TRIDI and its partners have continued to strengthen TVET institutions while creating opportunities for young women to enter and succeed in areas where they have traditionally been underrepresented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have trained instructors, we have profiled young women, we have strengthened institutional systems, and we have engaged communities and gatekeepers. And we have taken skills out of the classroom and placed them in competition where competence can be seen, assessed and improved. The competitions are especially important because they ask a simple but powerful question; Can the skill meet the standard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is the question we want every learner to confront. Not simply: <em>Did I complete the course?<\/em> But: Can I produce something useful? Can I solve a problem? Can I innovate? Can I compete? Can I create value?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TRIDI&#8217;s broader work in science, technology, innovation, research and training is built around the same principle; knowledge must eventually become useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This quarter also reminded us that progress brings new questions. Training must be matched with equipment, Skills must connect with markets, Institutions need stronger infrastructure, and Young women need sustained support after enrolment. And communication must tell the real story of change, not simply record that an activity happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our responsibility is therefore not to celebrate activity for activity&#8217;s sake. It is to keep asking; What changed? Who benefited? What happens next? That is how we will continue building pathways that lead to dignified and fulfilling work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Dr. Clet Wandui Masiga<\/strong><br>Executive Director, TRIDI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happens when skills meet opportunity? A message from Dr. Clet Wandui Masiga, Executive Director, TRIDI A skill can change the direction of a young person&#8217;s life. But a skill on its own is not always enough. The real transformation happens when that skill is connected to quality training, confidence, assessment, mentorship, markets and an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":32496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,43,51,106,87,105,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-blog","category-education","category-employment","category-local-communities","category-science-and-research","category-vocational-skills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32497,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32495\/revisions\/32497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tridi.org\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}