Dr Natalie Kenely is a Resident Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, where she has lectured since 1994. Her main areas of teaching include personal and professional development, macro-practice, and management and leadership in social welfare. She chaired the Faculty's Research Ethics Committee for 4 years, and sat on the University Research Ethics Committee for three years. She coordinates Practical Placements of social work students within the Department. Dr Kenely provides supervision to social workers in the field.
Her research interests include: - Management and Leadership - Emotional Intelligence - Resilience - Reflective Practice - Compassion fatigue and burnout - Youth Mental Health - Social Isolation and Loneliness
Her PhD Thesis, titled Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership in Social Work, explored issues of organisational climate, human resource functions and leadership in the light of their effect on relationships within a major social work services Agency, and therefore their influence on the levels of emotional intelligence within the Agency.
Dr Kenely has presented her research in conferences both locally and abroad and was awarded Best Paper Award in an International Conference on Leadership held at Ashbridge Business School in London in 2013. She has written about leadership, resilience, emotional intelligence, wellbeing and reflective practice.
Dr Kenely is a warranted social worker and is a member of the Maltese Association for Social Workers (MASW). She is a member of the Malta Diocese Safeguarding Commission. She was a member of the Junior College Board for many years. She chaired the National Commission for the Family between 2012 and 2013. She was Head of the Department of Social Policy and Social Work between 1st October 2016 and 30th September 2020.
