About Us
About Us
The Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations was set up by the Voluntary Organizations Act 2007 with the task to strengthen the voluntary sector through various initiatives with the specific aim of promoting the work of VOs as well as encouraging their role as partners with the government in various initiatives. Cap. 23 of 2007 Voluntary Organizations Act came into force in November 2007 Prof. Kenneth Wain was the first Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations over the period 2007-2018.
The second Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations was Dr. Anthony J. Abela Medici. He served the office in his position over the period 2018-2021. The office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations is now under the helm of Mr. Jesmond Saliba who was appointed as the Third Commissioner for Voluntary Organizations in 2021.
The Commissioner
Mr. Jesmond Saliba is the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, after gaining unanimous backing in Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee in August 2021.
Over the past thirty years through his profession and interests developed a committed passion to social justice and a high level of understanding of the various elements composing Malta’s society.
He has been involved in different areas within the voluntary sector for many years, from music and sports in the locality of Fgura to sports at a national level. Saliba headed the Malta Volleyball Association.
For the past decade, Saliba served as a member of the board of directors of Dar tal-Providenza and is also a member of Fondazzjoni Sebħ and Save a Life Foundation.
He has a keen interest in communications, international relations, diplomacy, and foreign affairs, with particular focus on Europe and European Affairs.
Jesmond has a BA in Communications and International Relations from the Univeristy of Malta and M. Sc. In Corporate Communications and Public Affairs from the RGU University in Aberdeen.
Jesmond is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the UK Insistute of Leadership and Management.
Chief Officer
Dr. Raiza Borg Carr is an advocate by profession, having obtained her Bachelor of Laws in 2011, her Diploma as Notary Public in 2012, and her Doctor of Laws in 2014. She obtained her warrant to practice as an advocate in 2015.
Over the years, she has worked in various different sectors including general litigation, intellectual property law, whilst also participating in various business ventures. She also delivers lectures on different areas of law. Throughout the years she has also participated in different voluntary activities, and this started since she was of a very young age.
Prior to her role as Chief Officer, Raiza who works at OCVO since December 2020 (as Senior Manager - HR), headed the PPPID Directorate since November 2021, where she was responsible to oversee the HR, Finance, Administration and IT and Registry of the Office. She was also responsible to oversee the Intent, Pre-Enrolment, Inter-regulatory Liaison, Enrolment and Classification sections. Additionally, the PPPID Directorate was entrusted with the reform of the national reform concerning the voluntary sector.
Currently, Raiza is the Chief Officer, where she is primarily responsible heading the operations of the entire office with the support of the Directors and Heads, and also continues to be responsible of steering the national reform concerning the voluntary sector. The reform in fact is a national consultative journey the OCVO has embarked on that together with all major stakeholders and with the general public, which will not only see a new legislative framework, but will aim to build a sustainable voluntary sector.
Director (Support Services)
Mr. Roderick Agius currently holds the position of Director (Support Services). He has been working at the OCVO since June 2018. Previously he worked in the field of education and educational services.
Roderick has been involved with Voluntary Organisations since 1988. He has worked with local organisations and with pan European organisations in the field of international development, humanitarian aid and social justice.
Roderick holds a Masters degree in Public Policy.
Director (Annual Returns, International Affairs and Research)
Ms. Marika Farrugia is currently responsible for leading and managing Annual Returns, International Affairs and Research, including work related to Moneyval and FATF. She joined this Office in June 2009, as an Executive Secretary to the Commissioner to assist the Commissioner in his various duties related to his job as regulator of the voluntary sector, together with the overall administration of the Office. Prior to her current role, in 2013 Marika took up the position of a Support Services Manager, responsible for Corporate Services of the Office, overall management, operations and research work of the Office, which included HR, Training. Finance, Procurement, Annual Report, Research, and Moneyval related work, whilst also assisting the Commissioner in his duties to regulate the voluntary sector.
Before joining the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisation, Marika worked in the private sector with the telecommunications company GO. Between 2004 and 2009, Marika worked in the HR, Training and Career Development Directorate, as Assistant Head and Heading of the Training and Career Development Unit and was also responsible for HR matters of the Training and Career Development Unit. Between 2001 and 2004, Marika worked with Maltacom Training College (a subsidiary company of Maltacom plc) as a Marketing Executive to market this College both in the local and international markets, were both local and foreign employees were trained. She was also a member on the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Committee. In 1993 Marika was appointed as a Marketing Officer with Maltacom plc and in 1999 she was promoted as a Brand Manager responsible for the marketing of several Maltacom services. She also travelled abroad on several work assignments to different countries on the marketing of such services, where she gained experience in this area. Between 1978 and 1993, Marika worked as an Advertising Executive at Public Broadcasting Services and was later promoted to assist and deputise the Head of the Advertising department.
Marika is a Master of Science graduate with Distinction from the University of Leicester.
Director (Legal, Compliance and Investigations)
Dr. John Seychell Navarro studied Environmental Health and graduated in Health Science at the University of Malta in 2000. He was admitted to the Board for the Professions Supplementary to Medicine in August of the same year. He then attained a Diploma in Management from the University of Malta in 2003. In 2006 he graduated as a Bachelor of Laws and attained a Diploma in Notary Public in 2007. On the 5th of November 2008 he attained a licence to lecture on Food Safety and on the 15th of December 2009 he attained a licence as an Environmental Health professional. He was also appointed as an expert to the Administrative Tribunal on the 27th of February 2009 which post has been renewed till the present day. In 2009 he graduated as Doctor of Laws and obtained a warrant to practice as a Lawyer on the 22nd February 2010.
John worked as an Environmental Health Officer from the year 2000 and was promoted to Senior Environmental Office in the year 2006. He was appointed as a Deputy Registrar in the Courts of Justice in the year 2009 and Assistant Registrar of the Criminal Court and Tribunals in 2013. He set up the Asset Management Unit in the Courts of Justice and introduced Asset Tracing in criminal proceedings in a completely new procedure. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Asset Recovery Bureau in 2015 and then started working as a Senior Legal Officer with the OCVO in November 2018. In May 2019 he was appointed Director Legal Services of the OCVO. He also lectures with Jobsplus and the University of Malta.
John has also attended many conferences in Malta and overseas on various topics including Food Safety, Waste Management, Prevention of Money Laundering and Asset Recovery.
He is currently responsible for the Legal, Compliance and Investigations Directorate.
Head (HR/People, Finance and Administration)
Ms. Riona Bruno has been working at the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (OCVO) since June 2020 and she currently holds the position of Head (People/HR, Finance and Administration).
Riona obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Malta back in 2018. She progressed her studies and also obtained a Master of Science Degree in Occupational Psychology from the University of Leicester in 2022.
Riona has the Social Sector at heart and has always sought to work in related areas. In fact, she has worked for over three years and in several different roles at the Foundation for Educational Services (FES). This was followed by a job as a Marketing Executive III with the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS).
Riona is also a member of the National Literacy Agency Board.
Head (Intent, Pre-Enrolment, Inter-regulatory Liaison, Enrolment and Classification)
Ms. Cynthia Ann Dako Ellul is currently the Head of Intent, Pre-Enrolment, Inter-regulatory Liaison, Enrolment and Classification. She joined the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisation in March 2021 as Manager (Public Collections).
Cynthia Ann has several years of work experience leading teams across different sectors both in the product and service industries. She has a keen interest in business management and helping companies become more successful which proved essential in supporting and guiding organisations in the setting up and continue to be successful in administrating the organisation.
Cynthia Ann holds a BA in Communications and a MA in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Malta. She eventually continued her studies and obtained a Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing.
Head (Investigations)
Dr. Joseph Ciappara currently holds the position of Head of Investigations. He has been working with the OCVO since April 2019, working within the field of investigations and in the monitoring of the voluntary sector.
Joseph has been involved in voluntary organisations since 2002 and is currently also a volunteer firefighter within the Civil Protection Department. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Psychology; a Bachelor’s degree in Theology; a Masters degree in Archaeology and Biblical Sciences; and a Doctorate in Theology.
Previously he worked in the field of education and currently lectures in biblical Languages and the Old Testament at the University of Malta.
Head (Central Information Management & Analysis And Technology)
Ms. Joanne Galdes studied Business Studies, Banking and Information Technology and attained the Diploma in Banking in 1996 from the Chartered Institute of Bankers. She has worked with an International Financial Banking Institution for twenty five years fulfilling different roles and getting continuous training reflecting the different roles. She was appointed as Retail Banking Champion, Premier Relationship Champion and Cyber Security Champion reflecting her passion for customer service and work commitment.
Joanne also worked as Assistant Manager within the Human Resources department within the same Financial institution focusing on the preparation of EXCO papers for the board members, presenting data and analytics related to the Institution's employees on a monthly basis to the bank's subordinate departments and also to the internal and external auditors.
She also manned the Human Resources call centre, seeing and assisting employee queries and trying to accomodate their requests in line with the collective agreement. She also set up students' internship programmes and interviews, vetted new recruit applications and prepared their contracts. She also participated in various seminars and training sessions related to Cyber security.
Joanne joined the Office of the Commisioner for Voluntary Organisations in 2021. She has worked in different sections within this office, working in improving the service given to the sector, meeting with different institutions and verifiying the voluntary organisations’ obligations towards them. She has also worked ways on how to come up with agreements to share information rather than asking for the same or similar documentation thus simplifying processes. This after meeting and getting feedback from the organisations, keeping them always at the centre of all the decisions. She also set up the regulatory liasion process where now the office has defined instructions on how operate according to the different categories and sectors.
She is now the Head of the Central Information Management & Analysis And Technology Section, and is responsible for the management of the electronic and physical registries of the Office, as well as all IT related matters.