Dr Portelli is a law graduate from the University of Malta, having specialized in applied business law and IT. Throughout her 27 years of working experience, she occupied several managerial posts – Chief Operations Manager, Chief Projects Manager, Commercial & Compliance Manager as well as Group Business Development Manager. During this period she spearheaded several nationwide projects within the public sector and the private sector, and was heavily involved in BPR and Change Management on ERP, CRM and BI projects. She was also instrumental in setting up group structures to operate internationally both within the EU and the MENA region.
In 2013 she contested the general election successfully and was re-elected again in 2017 from both the 9th and the 13th district. During her 7 year tenure as member of Parliament she was tasked with various responsibilities during which she shadowed several challenging portfolios including EU affairs, energy, environment, transport, infrastructure, capital projects, planning and property.
Following her departure from politics, she ventured into the sphere of sectoral representation while working as a management consultant in her professional capacity.
Since 1st May 2021 she took on the role as CEO of The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and sits on the Board of Directors of PBS Ltd, Malta Business Bureau (MBB), Education Malta and Tech.MT.