Alexia Demicoli eager for ‘rewarding’ and ‘enriching’ experience as Hospice Malta CRO

Alexia Demicoli has been named Chief Relations Officer (CRO) at palliative care NGO Hospice Malta.

In doing so, she takes over from Andrew Zammit, who brought his time at the NGO to an end last December after two-and-a-half years.

Speaking to MaltaCEOs.mt about her new role, Ms Demicoli remarked that palliative care is “not solely about dying, but also about living”.

“People near the end of their lives are usually mourning the loss of their sense of purpose, their future, and their social connections. It is precisely with this in mind that I’m truly excited to give more purpose to my life, my future and to create meaningful connections with perfect strangers,” she said.

She explained that given Malta’s ageing population bringing about greater demand for end-of-life care, it is an “exciting possibility” for her to ensure Hospice’s patients’ “end-of-life goals are met in a comfortable and dignified manner”, while also being surrounded by “genuine love and compassionate support”.

“Even just the thought of it is a rewarding, enriching, and fulfilling experience, let alone experiencing it first-hand with my new professional colleagues and volunteers,” she added.

Ms Demicoli stated that her move to the NGO was primarily motivated by the “unique feeling” of “knowing that you’re making a real impact in someone else’s life”. She instantly realised that Hospice was “special” when she first helped in organising one of its main fundraising events in 2022, and when the opportunity to join as CRO came a few months later, it felt “surreal” to her as it combined her strengths, interests, and goals.

“Knowing that I will be helping people who need a great deal of compassion, support, and care had already made me feel fulfilled and excited, let alone working in a voluntary organisation that provides the highest standards of palliative care to its patients,” she explained.

“My reasoning was, and still is, that since I only have one life, I can either ponder on what I could have done if handed another lifetime, or do it in the one that I have been gifted with,” she added.

Prior to her new role, Ms Demicoli served as Business Development Executive at Malta-based law firm Camilleri Preziosi for nine years.

When asked how her prior experience will assist her in her new role, she remarked that having worked at Camilleri Preziosi for almost a decade allowed her to learn various skills while also providing her with “experiences that are truly valuable in this career change”, including networking, problem-solving, understanding legal and regulatory aspects, and also communication skills. She pointed out that the latter are particularly “critical” in a fundraising role where you have to “effectively convey the mission and needs of Hospice to potential donors”.

“All these skills and experiences can certainly be transferable to this new role, and since I have a lot of passion for the cause of palliative care, this should be a meaningful career change,” she concluded.

Ms Demicoli holds a Master of Arts in European Politics, Economics and Law and a Bachelor of European Studies (Hons.), both from University of Malta.

Founded in 1989, Hospice Malta is a registered NGO that is primarily focused on providing and promoting palliative care for persons suffering from end-of-life cancer and motor neuron disease. Over the years, the awareness and need for palliative care increased, and thus the organisation increased its offering to patients suffering from end-of-life cardiac, respiratory, renal, liver diseases, as well as Creutzfeldt Jacob disease and Multiple sclerosis. Its services are offered through a “professional multidisciplinary team” along with the assistance of a number of volunteers.