Speakers & Panelists
Denise Borg Manche - Managing Director at Vivian Corporation Ltd
Denise is Managing was appointed Managing Director at Vivian in 2022. She leads the organisation with a strong commitment to its people and culture, placing employee experience and wellbeing at the heart of Vivian’s strategy. Passionate about fostering healthy workplace cultures, Denise believes in building trust, encouraging honest dialogue and investing in strong relationships. She champions professional development, mental health, diversity and inclusion, recognition and employee engagement, helping create a high-performing environment where people feel valued, supported and empowered to thrive.
Dr Ann Bugeja - Partner at GVZH Advocates
Ann heads the employment and private client practices within the firm. She has advised a number of large companies in Malta on non-litigious employment law arising from day-to-day matters and more specific issues such as collective redundancies and protection of employees under the TUPE regulations.
Daniela Calleja Bitar - CEO at The Richmond Foundation
Daniela has been working in the Mental health sector for 24 years. Backed by an MA in mental health studies, she has a passion for patient advocacy, was pivotal to the introduction of Mental Health First Aid in Malta, and is a dedicated leader to a team of over 90 committed professionals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-calleja-bitar-60a314155/
Zach Ciappara - Founder & CEO at FreeHour
Zach is the Founder & CEO of locally based start up FreeHour, which started out in 2017 as the go-to student app in Malta, catered to solving daily problems for University & 6th forms students by providing them with an innovative timetable system & other benefits such as Job opportunities, Offers & much more. Zach now runs a team of 17+ people whom operate the startup, app and the wide array of content FreeHour produces for its community of over 85,000 youths & students on its app & Instagram channels in Malta. Through this community, FreeHour has become the largest student & youth platform in Malta, working with over 200 brands to highlight their services to the upcoming generation.
Dr Josianne Cutajar - CEO at the OHSA
Josianne is a medical doctor with a long career in the management of health services and elderly care. Before joining the Occupational Health and Safety Authority served as Chief Executive for the St Vincent de Paule Residence for the elderly.
Mikela Fenech Pace - HR Consultant
For the first 15 years of her career Mikela served as a diplomat with the Government of Malta. In 2011 she was on the leading team of Malta’s response to the Libya Crisis. In 2014 she moved into the private sector and transferred her skill set into the strategic human resource functions across the telecoms, financial as well as food importation and distribution industries. Working with international companies such as Vodafone, Deloitte and Alf Mizzi and Sons Marketing and leading and transforming HR strategy brought her into direct contact with organisational restructuring, people change and strategic planning.
She has since become an Executive Coach assisting clients develop wider skill sets and with their self-belief and leadership potential, and has also set up her own HR Consultancy and Executive Coaching Practice.
Trudy Kerr - Founder, Host and Producer of The SHE Word Ultra Runner, Traveler and Author
Trudy has extensive experience in communications, media, strategy and marketing, having worked in a number of leadership roles within these areas. She is well versed in all things iGaming, while her previous role saw her occupying the same post, Head of Strategy and Marketing, at iGEN- the iGaming European Network. She also hosts a popular podcast called The Interviewer, where she invites a diverse range of guests who are leaders in their respective fields.
Stelmart Khalil - Psychotherapist and employees wellbeing specialist at the Richmond Foundation
Stelmart is a Gestalt Psychotherapist with 15 years in the mental health field and has spent much of that time helping organisations build real wellbeing support for their teams.
Tonio Mifsud Bonnici - Group Head of HR at Farsons
Tonio has been part of the Farsons Group since 1989, where he built a diverse career transitioning from technical and laboratory roles into human resources. Over the years, he has contributed to shaping the Group's HR function through various leadership roles, culminating in his appointment as Group Head of HR in 2024. He holds A BA Youth and Community Studies from the University of Malta and a Masters degree in HR Development and Performance Management, and is widely recognised for his people-oriented leadership and commitment to fostering a values-driven, high-performance culture organisation-wide.
Steve Phillip - Suicide prevention, mental health advocate and founder of the Jordan Legacy and Co-founder of One Voice, One Hope
On December 4th 2019, Steve received a call that would change his life forever. His 34 year old son, Jordan had taken his own life. He founded The Jordan Legacy CIC in August 2020 and he is the co-author of the ground breaking report “Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society”. He delivers talks to corporate organisations, charities, educational institutions, the Police and other organisations & community groups in the UK and overseas. Steve is also a co-founder of One Voice, One Hope, a collaborative suicide prevention network, rooted in the principles of respect, humility, trust, compassion and determination. Steve believes that as a society we should be doing all we can to prevent all preventable deaths by suicide.
Dr Marthese Portelli - CEO at the Malta Chamber
Marthese joined the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry as Chief Executive Officer in June 2021. A graduate in law, she has a wealth of experience in policy formulation and negotiation. She occupied senior roles in the corporate world for 13 years in the technology sector, before her seven-year stint as a Member of Parliament, during which she shadowed several challenging portfolios including EU affairs, energy, environment, transport, infrastructure, capital projects, planning and property. Following her departure from politics, she was appointed Director General of the Malta Developers Association, while working as a management consultant in her professional capacity.
Ivan Refalo - President at the Malta Employers Association
Ivan’s business experience spans over 35 years across various sectors. He worked in auality, operations and human resource management and development. During his career he worked closely with MCAST, the Malta Chamber of Commerce Enterprise and Industry, serving on the Business education Committee, later the HR Committee, MEA and other organisations including the two major Unions. He joined Palm City, Libya (part of the Corinthia Group) in 2014 heading the HR Department before moving to Medavia to head the HR and Corporate Communications department for 5 years. He later joined Seifert Systems Ltd, leading the HR Department. Ivan has served on boards of both public and private companies including disciplinary boards as an independent member. He was president of the Foundation for Human Resource Development between 2013 and 2015 and has been sitting on the MEA Council since 2016.
Dr Jean Pierre Scerri - Partner at GVZH Advocates
Jean is one of the region's leading telecommunications and regulatory lawyers. With more than 25 years of experience, he advises telecommunications operators, technology companies, regulators, and governments on complex regulatory, competition, and commercial matters across Europe and the Middle East. He brings a rare, multi-sided perspective to his work, having held senior legal and regulatory roles within telecommunications operators, multinational communications providers, government agencies, and regulatory authorities. Most notably, he served as General Counsel of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain. This experience gives him a thorough understanding of how regulators think and how operators and investors can successfully navigate regulatory frameworks. Over the course of his career, he has advised on some of the region's most significant telecommunications and regulatory projects, including market liberalisation initiatives, spectrum awards, legal separation projects, broadband infrastructure frameworks, competition investigations, and wide-ranging regulatory reforms.
Sarah Vella - Co-founder of Hale - body+mind
Sarah is a dance artist/choreographer, dance/ movement therapist (BTD), speech and language pathologist (Bsc. Hons) and alternative practitioner for psychotherapy (HeilPrG) from Malta. After 12 years living and working in Berlin and internationally, Sarah has relocated back home in 2022. As a dance/movement therapist, she leads various group and one-to-one sessions in clinics, private practices, with a variety of communities and age groups and in schools. She specialises in working with individuals with mental health issues (depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma,
eating disorders and more) and learning disabilities (including autism and down's syndrome). She has experience working with these client groups in health clinics in Berlin, in private practice in Malta, in community settings and with a variety of entities and organisations. Since 2013, Sarah has also been working as a speech and language pathologist in private practices, Kindergartens and schools. Her main areas of focus include learning disabilities, articulation and phonological disorders, autism and aphasia, amongst others. Sarah’s artistic practice spans from initiating, leading & supporting performing arts projects to# taking on various roles as a performer, choreographer, collaborator, producer & educator. In her work, Sarah believes in client-centred, tailor-made approaches that benefit the clients she is working with. She focuses on fostering a safe and holistic space to wellbeing. Sarah is a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta, holds various workshops and talks in conferences and other settings and is also the current president of the Creative Arts Therapies
Society Malta.
Frank Zammit - Original Content producer at Stargate Studios
Frank has over 24 years of experience in media, entertainment, storytelling and production. Passionate about crafting compelling narratives, he contributes diverse perspectives and drives collaborative efforts that resonate with audiences. His work in radio, television and commercial collaborations includes managing complex productions and working with diverse teams.
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