Ms. Jeanelle Aquilina is the Head of Direct Tax and Corporate Services at Tri-Mer
Services Limited, where she leads on complex corporate tax matters, restructurings,
and mergers and acquisitions. She advises a diverse portfolio of local and
international clients, delivering strategic insight on both domestic and cross-border
tax issues.

Jeanelle graduated as an Accountant from the University of Malta in 2016 and is a
warranted Certified Public Accountant. She further strengthened her technical
expertise with a Professional Certificate in Taxation from the Malta Institute of
Taxation, and in 2021, she obtained a Master of Arts in Taxation from the University
of Malta.

Alongside her professional accomplishments, Jeanelle is deeply committed to
leadership and advocacy. She was elected to the Board of BPW Valletta Malta in
August 2024 as Malta’s Young Representative, and in March 2026, she was elected
President of BPW Malta. She also serves as Finance Officer at Malta’s National
Youth Council, a position she has held for three consecutive years, contributing to
the financial stewardship of one of the country’s key youth institutions.

Josette Portelli is a Speech and Language Pathologist with extensive experience in clinical practice, education, and health service development. She currently serves as Entity Lead for Allied Health Services within the Child, Adolescent and Youth Services (CAYS), for both Malta and Gozo where she works to develop and strengthen interdisciplinary services for children and families.

She has extensive experience in quality management and has led several professions in the implementation of Quality Management Systems in their professions.

Her leadership extends to EU-funded initiatives. As project leader, she oversaw the mapping of competences across all professions for all career grades for the professions within the Allied Health Directorate.

Josette is an active member of the Association of Speech and Language Pathologists (ASLP) where she has served as vice president and is an active coach and mentor. On a European level, she is engaged in the Common Training Framework Task Force of the European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA), contributing to the development of professional standards across member countries. She is a senior visiting lecturer at the University of Malta where she teaches developmental psycholinguistics at the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology and clinical linguistics at the Faculty for Health Sciences

Carmen Valletta has been involved in the real estate business in Malta for the last fourteen years. She started her career with Remax Malta as a real estate agent. After four years she was given the opportunity to grow within the same organisation and was given the responsibility of managing the Remax Crown Branch on Tower Road Sliema, which post she has occupied for the last ten years.

Carmen has won several achievements over the years both individually as an agent for 

Top Performing Agent, Top Exclusive Listing Agent, Top Agent in Service fee generated. She was also awarded the Manager of the Year award, Top Producing Office Award and Top Producing Office in Service Fees Generated. In 2020 Carmen was also awarded a special Recognition for Courage and Dedication to the Remax Brand Award.

Carmen has for the past ten years attended at International Conferences organized yearly by Remax International which take place in a different European country each year. 

Carmen has been on the BPW (Valletta) Malta board in the post of board member for several years and has also attended various Conferences abroad.

Dr. Giannella Barbieri is a legal professional with extensive experience in corporate, commercial, employment, and immigration law. In 2024, she founded her own law firm, GB Legal, with a goal of delivering tailored legal services that truly meets the clients’ needs. Alongside her legal practice, she also established GB Partners, a corporate services provider that assists clients with company formations, corporate structuring and ongoing corporate administration.

Prior to establishing her own practice, Dr. Barbieri held senior roles within the legal profession where she led legal teams and worked closely with clients on a wide range of legal matters. Over the years, she has assisted clients with a diverse range of projects, including mergers and acquisitions, company formations and restructurings, regulatory compliance, and cross-border transactions.

Dr. Barbieri is passionate about helping individuals and businesses succeed. She strives to provide advice that is both practical and solution-focused, ensuring that clients receive clear guidance that supports their objectives. She is also a strong advocate for women in business and hopes to inspire others to take charge of their careers with confidence and determination.

Fiona Soler is an experienced Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and Director with a strong track record in the financial services industry. Demonstrates expertise in portfolio management, corporate finance, foreign exchange (FX), and stockbroking. Brings extensive cross-functional experience spanning finance, operations, payments, and human resources, with a proven ability to lead and scale teams across Back Office, Customer Support, Payments, and Compliance functions.

Possesses broad exposure to international financial services businesses, including licensing processes across EU and offshore jurisdictions, as well as the operational and strategic challenges of start-up and growth environments. Has served in both Non-Executive Director and Executive Director roles, offering strong governance, leadership, and commercial acumen.

Fiona was elected to the Board of BPW (Valletta) Malta in March 2026 where she serves as the treasurer of the organisation.

Mariella Camilleri is a Finance expert with over 40+ years experience in Corporate Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital and Investment Banking. Her expertise in the field includes Due Diligence, Corporate Evaluation, Company Packager and oversight for the integration post acquisition closing. She has had multiple C-Suite roles in many sectors and with Multinational Corporations. She maintained several consulting relationships in various fields ranging from Credit Risk management / Business Management, Technology Selection review and implementation primarily related to CRM/ERP and Inbound Marketing, plus using technology to streamline operations in various sectors including High Fashion Industry, Public Relations, Logistics & Transportation and Factoring amongst others. She has maintained C-Level (CFO / COO roles) posts for Start-ups and also Post Acquisition, for companies operating in the marketing sector, including General Manager for a Multinational Corporation which oversaw product development in the US, plastic injection molding production facility in China, R&D in Hong Kong and sales operations in USA, Asia and South America. The latest of her C-Level roles was as CFO/COO of a Book Publishing Company from 2009 through 2014.

After residing in New York, USA for 30 years, Mariella and her husband Henry moved back to Malta in 2013. Since her move back to Malta, amongst other things, she has been providing consulting services related to Business Management, Marketing and Promotions as well as sitting on the board of directors for a film production company based in Malta. Mariella also sits in the Board of Directors of Magtech Ltd. a company based out of Malta and who operates in the Technology Development Sectors.

Mariella was elected to the Board of BPW (Valletta) Malta in January 2016 where she served as Vice President of the Board. In January 2019 she was then elected to President of the board where she is currently serving her second term as President of Business and Professional Women (Valletta) Malta (“BPW Malta”).

Mariella also served as a member of the Consultative Council for Women’s Rights as well as a member of the Oversight Committee for Women, Peace and Security.

Her contribution to the Voluntary organisations include her previous role as a Member of the Women’s Board of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in New York, USA.

Mariella is currently also a Member of Vistage Malta, a Global Organization which coaches and mentors CEOs and Business Leaders.

Mariella Camilleri’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariellacamilleri

Francesca Cassar has been a significant figure in BPW (Valletta) Malta, dedicating five years as Board Secretary before transitioning to oversee the Club’s event organization. In her current capacity, she also contributes to BPW International’s Development, Training, and Employment sub-committee, focusing on introducing and enhancing global initiatives at the local chapter level.

Before her involvement with BPW, Francesca accumulated extensive business experience. Upon her return from school in the UK in 1991, she initially joined a local advertising and event marketing agency, playing a key role in organizing major events. She then ventured into the family business, co-founding a company specializing in domestic water purification systems, a pioneering product in Malta during the early ’90s. Later, Francesca shifted to the furniture importing sector of the business, where she significantly expanded the product range and managed to introduce Fatboy, a then-new Dutch brand, to Malta, which has since become a global name and one of Domestica’s flagship brands. After contributing to her family’s business for two decades, Francesca embarked on her own path in 2019.

Stephanie Falzon is a Director in Falzon’s Bathrooms & Ceramics, importers and distributors of Bathrooms and Tiles.   This is a family business which was founded in 1922 – over 100 years ago.   She specializes in the interior design of showers/bathrooms. 

She is the Immediate Past President of BPW (Valletta) Malta.  She joined BPW in 2009 and was elected Vice President in 2011 and President in 2014 and 2016.  She is still a very active Board Member and is currently the Secretary of BPW (Valletta) Malta.

In 2017 she was elected as Chair of emPOWer, a platform, for all the female NGOs in Malta, to come together on national issues such as prostitution, equal pay, more women in decision-making roles, etc.   She was Chair of emPOWer for two terms from 2017 to 2022. Stephanie Falzon is currently also a Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Malta. Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s InternationalAward Malta is an exciting self-development program available for all 14 to 25-year-olds.

Doriette Gauci is an Assistant Head at an all girls’ Secondary School in Birkirkara, Malta.  She is a Pharmaceutical Technology Graduate who worked as a Customs Laboratory Analyst for 8 years.  After training at the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta, she turned her career and became a science educator.  During her 28 years in the education professions, she has constantly striven for the promotion of science and technology among students, both as a teacher and during the last 12 years as a school leader.

Working with young girls has sensitised Doriette to the need for women empowerment and this led her to join BPW (Valletta) Malta in 2016 as a member. 2 years later she was elected to the Board and has been serving as Vice President for the past 5 years.  She has chaired the Careers’ Day 2023 organising committee and is presently co-ordinating the preparations for the BPW European Conference being held in Malta in 2025.

A business trip to Italy about fifteen years ago introduced me to BPW.  I had a meeting with Sigra Rosetta Munzone, then President of the Club in Sicily Riviera dei Ciclopi.  We talked about women and we talked about ourselves and after a couple of hours of hearing about BPW and what the organization had to offer she sprang on me the idea of opening an Affiliate Club in Malta.  My initial reaction was do I have the time.  After consideration and evaluation of the experience and the benefits one could get out of being part of an International organisation I decided that I would take a go at it.  I made contact with a few lady friends and organised a meeting locally where we met up with some Sicilian members of BPW.  The chemistry was there and a small group of women met regularly to  organise a weekend during which the Charter for BPW (Valletta) Malta was presented in April 2015.  Since that time we have never looked back…. After my term of Presidency this was then passed on to Stephanie Falzon and  after her Mariella Camilleri.  Together with a very effective Board we continuously organise various discussions and informative meetings for the empowerment of women and also for young adult girls. 

I must say that my interest was always to work towards the empowerment of girls and women.  As a very young adult I was a Girl Guide Leader of a group of Sliema girls, a position which gave me the possibility of guiding and moulding young ladies into independent and responsible adults in a fun atmosphere but teaching commitment and responsibility.

My first job was a Secretarial job.  After that I was doing various PA jobs.  One particular role which I enjoyed tremendously because of the international exposure was the organisation of the Spouses programme for CHOGM 2005 held in Malta.  Years of organisation and hard work culminated into a lovely experience of meeting so many distinguished guests.

I also had the possibility of being part of organisational groups of some very high level state meetings with international dignitaries.  Each and every such meeting was a challenge and a memorable experience. 

I have also got a great passion for voluntary work.  I am a Voluntary of the Order of St. John.  This role takes us to Lourdes for a trip during which we take care of sick persons who we take from Malta for four days in May.  I am also a Hospitalier of Lourdes and vow to give service for a week once a year.  I am an Officer of St. John’s Association Malta which offers First Aid and Rescue services.  I form part of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and here am committed to help and support our fellow Christians in the Holy Land.

My altruistic nature helps me to be at the disposal of others and also be always there for whoever seeks help.

I am keen on exercise and keeping fit and healthy. 

Last but not least I am a wife, mother, mother in law and grandmother to four.  It is always such a pleasure to be surrounded by and spend time with my family.