Our Team | Association of International Women in Malta

Meet the Board

Back row (left to right): Hope Moore (Membership Coordinator), Alice Brennan, Marianne Gable (Social Committee Chair), Rosemary Amato (Webmaster), Kirsty Hignett (Philanthropy Committee Co-Chair).

Front row seated (left to right): Gail Coleman (Treasurer), Kim Smith (President), Isabella Testaferrata De Noto (Secretary).

Missing from the photo is Vibhuti Sharma, who was away.

AIWM's BOARD

The key to the on-going vitality of our association is member participation in all aspects of the life of our association from enjoying monthly activities and events to sharing expertise and enthusiasm by volunteering for AIWM’s various leadership positions and committees.

Below you can meet the nine members of our 2024-2025 Executive Board who are responsible for managing the Association.

These volunteers hold these positions for a year and were elected at the Association's Annual General Meeting, on 20 March 2024. Supporting the Board and the Association's aims are several Standing Committees - Philanthropy, Member Outreach, Social and Former Board Members - the latter recently created to support new board members.

Kim Smith

PRESIDENT

Kim is an American, born in Ohio where she spent the first 30 years of her life. She acquired her undergraduate degree in psychology from Bowling Green State University where she earned an abysmal GPA and an impressive collection of beer mugs. After she grew up a bit, Kim appreciated the importance and satisfaction of life-long learning. Consequently, she completed post-graduate coursework in business management, human resources management, organizational communication, and psychology. She earned her master’s degree in Psychology at age 50.

Working in the Human Resources field for over 30 years allowed Kim to put her psychology education to good use, although she often felt a greater understanding of abnormal psychology would have been useful in the HR field. Kim held executive level HR positions in both the public and private sectors. Her career gave her the opportunity to live in California (where she met her husband, Richard), in Oregon, and too many years in cold and snowy Idaho. Kim and Richard retired to Malta in 2017 to thaw out. They live in Kalkara with Paċi, the cat, who thinks he’s all that.

Over a period of 20 years, Kim served on boards of directors for civic, business, political, social welfare and economic development organizations. She had the honor to serve as President of five of those organizations. In this role, her focus in each organization was strategy development, long-term planning, and building relationships. Most recently, Kim served as Treasurer and Vice President of AIWM and, upon arriving in Malta, volunteered with Tal-Kaltura for Valletta 2018, European Capital of Culture. Kim enjoys travel, drawing, painting, and being near, at, on, in, or under the water.

Isabella Testaferrata De Noto

SECRETARY

Born in Malta and after having spent six years living in Rome, her journey in the pursuit of service and leadership began with earning a BA Degree Magna cum Laude in Public Administration from the University of Malta.

Embarking on a career that took her across Europe and the Middle East as an Inflight Manager, she developed a deep appreciation for both cultural diversity and for the importance of community engagement. Driven by a passion for continuous learning, she pursued further education in Management Studies, enhancing her capabilities for effective leadership. This academic pursuit propelled her into leadership roles within Local Government where, presently she serves as the senior finance executive in Malta’s largest Human Resources organisation and acts as an advisor in Air Accident Investigations. She enjoys reading, hiking, travelling, gym classes, and swimming. Beyond her involvement with our association, she is also an active member of the Rotary Club La Vallette, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) and the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

Gail Coleman

TREASURER

A Texas-born New York City woman, Gail just retired from a 40-year career in finance, as a banker and corporate finance executive, focusing mostly on oil & gas. She serves on the Board of arts organisations and a social service agency in New York City. Since relocating to Malta in 2021, she has begun volunteering for Din L-Art Helwa. She is a member of Heritage Malta, the Malta Arts Society and the Malta Map Society. Gail and her husband enjoy travel, arts, hiking and swimming. She is currently studying Italian.

Hope Moore

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

Born and raised in American, Hope has lived outside the U.S. for the past 30 years. Residing in Malaysia, England, Italy and Germany she moved to Malta 2 years ago. In her adopted countries she has been a volunteer with a range of international clubs and charity organizations. She is also an English language (EFL) teacher. Hope and her husband enjoy travel, arts, history and culture, walking, and spending time with their 2 grown sons.

Marianne Gable

BOARD MEMBER and Chair of the Social Committee

Born in Venezuela to Dutch and English parents, Marianne’s career has mostly been in marketing and communications; in London, but recently in Hong Kong in advertising on the Colgate account. Her big passion is tennis and she is generally found at the Marsa Sports Club on court or in the gym. Other hobbies include Bridge, reading, entertaining and travel, not to mention her two cats.

Kirsty Hignett

BOARD MEMBER and Co-Chair of the Philanthrophy Committee

Originally from Barbados and arrived in Malta in 2004, loved it and stayed. Kirsty has been leading AIWM's philanthropic efforts for several years. She loves travelling, hiking, sailing, artisanal skills and artistry and she is a reasonable Italian speaker, and has been a member of AIWM for 19 years.

Rosemary Amato

Webmaster

An American citizen who moved to Amsterdam in 1999 and has been in Malta since 2017. Rosemary is a CPA, CMA, and CISA and retired from a career that spanned 50 years in the fields of Management Acounting, Security and Controls Consulting, Knowledge Management and Data Governance. She takes every opportunity she can to attend musicals and is an avid reader.

Vibhuti Sharma

Board Member

Vibhuti moved to Malta in 2023 after 11 years of working as a transplant coordinator in a super specialty hospital in New Delhi, India. Together with living a new life in Malta, she is pursuing her doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy. She is also a member of the Malta Chamber of Psychologist and a Rotarian with the Rotary Club La Vallette. Vibhuti loves to play the piano, dabbles with astrology and loves to play bridge at the Bridge Club. She also enjoys cooking especially Indian food and travelling to new destinations whenever the opportunity arises. Her passion in life is to Live and Let Live, besides being an active part of the care and counselling industry in Malta. She is volunteering with Hospice Malta and with Bridging Visions where she works with clients dealing with their anxiety in day-to-day life.

Alice Brennan

BOARD MEMBER

An Irish citizen who has recently arrived in Malta from Dublin, Alice recently retired from a career spanning over 30 years in the field of international business experience in education and technology. Alice has one daughter who is living in Germany. She loves to travel and is a very keen walker who is currently exploring all the walking trails in Malta and Gozo.