Breaking Barriers in Malta: BPW European Conference 2025 Champions Collaboration, Innovation, and Leadership
6 minutes read
6 minutes read
Mikela Fenech Pace
For the first 15 years of my career I was a serving diplomat with the Government of Malta. Serving overseas and gaining exposure to the highest echelons gave me a unique insight into the public sector and what motivates and drives people to serve. The highlight of my diplomatic career was in 2011 when I was on the leading team of Malta’s response to the Libya Crisis. This led to my appointment as the Head of Strategy and Policy within the Office of the Prime Minister which put me at the centre of all government policy making. I was able to develop a sense of handling a crisis and working under intense pressure and scrutiny.During this time, I wrote a book ‘Stolen Childhood’ – a true story of a Welsh woman who assisted during the Libya crisis and whose children had been abducted to Libya by her husband. This 3-year project gave me an incredible insight into a mother’s quest for her children. It also taught me how to listen and be curious, allowing us to co-create her biography much of which she had buried deep into her subconscious. In 2014 I moved into the private sector and transferred my diplomatic 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 has brought me into direct contact with organisational restructuring, people change and strategic planning.
This is where I looked at the idea of taking the sum of my experiences and channel my self-awareness into becoming an Executive Coach. This was the beginning of my coaching journey aimed at developing a wider skill set to facilitate my client’s development and assist with their self-belief and leadership potential. Since reading for the MSC in Executive Coaching I have stepped down from my HR Manager role and set up my own HR Consultancy and Executive Coaching Practice.
My time in government as well as the diverse industries I work within has allowed me a unique perspective of the way companies work. Over the years, enabled by new insights through my coaching I have been able to navigate the complexities of changing organisations and the impact this has on people and politics within organisations
