Board Members

Mr. George Borg has had a long career in education. He started his career as a teacher in primary schools and special education. Mr. Borg has held various posts and positions in the Ministry of Education, from a teaching position to Director General (Education Services).

During his career, he has been a member of various official boards both locally and internationally. Currently, Mr. Borg is also a board member of the Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning (3CL) Foundation, Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Inter-Professional Board for Disability Services (IIPBD), and a member of the Independent Community Living Board. Mr. Borg has been on the FSWS Board since 2009.

He also holds an advisory role to the Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability at the Ministry for Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Rights.

In 2003, Mr. Borg received the Worker of the Year Award for his significant work in the field of educating students with disabilities.

Mr Noel Abela is a retired ex-Bank Executive with a banking career which spans over a forty-year period. During his forty-year experience Mr Abela served in different Branches and Departments. His achievements as Branch Manager were recognised by the Bank when he was awarded the very prestigious award of Branch Manager of the year.

Mr Abela received his education both locally and abroad obtaining qualifications in Management Competences, Time and Stress Management as well as Leadership skills.

Mr Abela is married to Bernardine and has three children and four granddaughters.

Mr Anthony Agius Decelis was born in Pietà in 1967. He graduated with Honours from the University of Malta in Youth and Community Studies in Informal Education. He continued his studies with a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Management and a Master’s Degree in Gerontology & Geriatrics. He is married to Josette, a father of three daughters and also a grandfather. Since a young age, he had particular interest in current affairs and occupied various roles within political forums. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in Malta in 2008, 2013 and 2017. He served as a Commissioner for Simplification and Reduction of Bureaucracy and later as a Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with Disability and Active Ageing. Today, he is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation

Ms Marietta Cassar – is currently completing her Master's degree in Management. Her thesis is on the analysis of management behaviour and its impact on employees.

Throughout her career, Ms Cassar has mainly worked in office management, human resources and client-centric roles. Ms Cassar currently holds a dual role as HRBP and Office Manager in the private sector. As Ms Cassar enjoys dealing with people, this job allows her to actively interact with a wide variety of people.

Ms Cassar has been a member of the Jobsplus Board of Directors since 2017.
She is an avid reader, passionate about travelling and appreciates all forms of art.

Dr Karen Carachi is a counselling psychologist specialising in adult mental health. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Malta and a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology from the Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom. She is warranted to practise in both Malta and the UK.

Dr Carachi can offer assessments and psychological therapies. She is also currently undergoing training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR). She has worked in various mental health settings in the UK and Malta, including mental health foundations; psychiatric hospitals and educational institutions.

Dr Carachi has worked therapeutically with people of all ages with a variety of mental health problems ranging from moderate to severe complexity. Dr Carachi also has experience working with people from minority groups and diverse cultural backgrounds.

Ms Rhoda Garland was born in the UK in 1969 with Spina Bifida. She is a qualified accountant, working as a business analyst until she moved to Malta in 2006. After reading for a Master's degree in Disability Studies she was asked by the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Aging to research and write the first State report to the United Nations regarding compliance with the UNCRPD. Following this role she moved to the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability, as a consultant and was given the position of Executive Director in 2015. This role includes managing the operations at the Commission as well as dealing with social policy issues and the planning of disability related legislation. In her spare time Rhoda enjoys sports including wheelchair basketball and rugby and also scuba diving.

Ms Trischia Falzon – Deputy Head of ONE News, with an experience in journalism that goes back to the beginning of 2014. Her articles focus mainly on stories from the social, health and tourism sectors. She is a fourth year student, reading a BA in Youth Work and Community Studies, and eventually, she wants to specialise in Family Therapy with a Masters. She is an activist for mental health. Her biggest passion is traveling and she's visited 33 countries so far. She considers herself a positive person who believes that everything happens for a reason. Also an animal lover.

Ms Amanda Grech , a graduate of London Metropolitan University and the University of Malta, Ms Amanda Grech is a warranted psychotherapist and a registered psychotherapy supervisor approved by the Malta Psychotherapy Professions Board. She is also a Psychology lecturer at the International Baccalaureate within St Edward's College

Ms Amanda Grech has extensive experience in the field of social welfare. She started her career as an undergraduate at Agenzija Appoġġ, back then known as Social Welfare Development Unit and subsequently as a psychology graduate focusing on community services. Since then, Ms. Amanda Grech held various roles within the Foundation including that of a Clinical Supervisor and Trainer where she worked with various managements and professionals.

She has served on a number of national boards and also as a consultant for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health with regards to the issue of the age of sexual consent. As a professional she specialises in Humanistic-Existential Psychotherapies, and has a special interest in Child Psychotherapy and Grief and Loss.

Mr Saviour Grima is a Manager at The Meeting Place Marsa, within the Ministry for Social Justice andSolidarity, Family & Children's Rights where he compiled several studies, surveys and reports on social outreach and family profiling and Networking of NGO's. He worked with different NGO's and stockholders. Mr Grima is actively involved within various localities in Malta and Gozo in the various aspects of the social field. He was in charge of the logistics, administration and distribution of the EU Food Aid Scheme. He worked and is still working on different European projects based on the grassroots needs in several locations. Mr Grima serves on several boards such as the ones for the Foundation of Social Welfare Services, the RISE Foundation, Kenn u Tama Foundation and the Foundation for Educational Services.

Ms Shirley Pulis Xerxen was appointed on the FSWS Board of Directors in 2017. Ms Pulis Xerxen graduated as a teacher from the University of Malta in 1996, where she furthered her studies and was employed as a lecturer until 2019. For a number of years, she focused on training teachers and employees in both the public and private sector. Over the years she has focused on the development of creativity and entrepreneurship and was involved in numerous local and European projects and authored several publications in this regard. She spent her childhood in Ħaż-Żebbuġ and Birkirkara and has lived in Żejtun since 2005 and currently teaches in the same community.

Mr Stephen Rizzo was born on the 9^th of August 1964 in Floriana, where he remained living until he got married and moved to Mosta in 1988.

Stephen attended the Floriana Primary School and then went to the Archbishop's Seminary for his secondary education. Following his post-secondary studies, he was employed by the Central Bank of Malta in 1983, where he remains employed till today. In August 2017, Mr Rizzo was seconded with the Ministry for Social Justice and Solidarity, the Family and Children's Rights, where he currently occupies the role of Ministry Liaison Officer, with his main duties being the strengthening of relationships with the voluntary organisatons working in the social field and the negotiations of Public Social Partnership agreements with the same VOs.

Mr Rizzo has been a member of the FSWS' Board from September 2017 and he truly believes that together with the other board members they are doing their best to empower the Foundation in making the necessary positive changes in the social sector.