Aligning our aqua expertise with your vision
Aqua Alliance advocates for the aqua industry to build a strong and supportive community for aquatic and fitness professionals.
Our team comprises experienced professionals who have dedicated their careers to supporting and advocating for the aquatic, fitness, leisure and vocational education training sectors.
Aqua Alliance believes that by working together and sharing our knowledge and expertise, we can help to advance the aqua industry and support its growth and development in our sector.
That's why we're committed to fostering a culture of inclusive collaboration, education, innovation and networking opportunities for businesses and professionals to make a positive impact on people who choose to use the aquatic environment for physical activity and fitness.
Aqua Alliance Cofounders
Jennifer Schembri-Portelli
With a background in Physical Education teaching and invigorated by movement in water, Jenn Schembri-Portelli (JSP) pioneered a career in the aquatic and fitness industry that gained international standing and recognition. Her ‘down to earth’ teaching approach, quality resources and ability to attract the right aqua professionals for events are the perfect fit for the Aqua Alliance. JSP knows her tribe and can build on what’s gone before in the aqua world. She has experience in running aqua summits and knows what makes them great.
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Dominic Gili
Dominic Gili brings 30 years’ experience in the aquatic industry as swim teacher, aqua instructor and aquatic education trainer to the Aqua Alliance. He is passionate about aqua exercise and bringing people together - Team Aqua is his motto and forte. An award-winning aqua fitness specialist, Dom also provides the fresh eyes to ensure all our documents for the AquaSummit event meet the brief. His enthusiastic approach puts a positive spin on just about everything. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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Marietta Mehanni
Marietta Mehanni’s reputation as a highly respected and knowledgeable leader in aqua instructor education has been built over 30 years. Her ability to bring people together to create stronger and more supportive communities make her an ideal person to work with others in this field. Marietta has also embraced the IT side of our business with razor sharp focus. It’s just the way we love to operate at the Aqua Alliance. She is excited about being part of the team bringing you the AquaSummit event.
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Our Story
What happens when the perfect storm of a change in sector standards and a global pandemic hits 3 people with small to medium businesses in the same industry?
Marietta Mehanni’s business is focused on educating fitness instructors; Dominic Gili’s Aqua Fitness Online is a virtual community embraced by aqua fitness enthusiasts worldwide; and Jenn Schembri-Portelli’s JSP Solutions has played an active role in the aqua industry over many years.
With a combined experience of more than 80 years, we are recognised as industry leaders and entrepreneurs willing to take a chance to improve and advocate for the aqua sector.
In December 2019, we were each dealing with a tsunami of uncertainty and angst from all directions around the launch of a new aqua training skill set and changes to industry compliance. But all that took a back seat when COVID-19 hit in February 2020.
With all classes cancelled, we had plenty of time to stay in touch. Our informal discussions were around how to continue to make the most of the situation and how to be ready when things returned to “normal”.
We continued to discuss issues like aqua compliance, guidelines, advocacy, the sector in general and fun things to do with exercising in water.
The longer it got, the more we discussed how to re-boot and dive back in and the need to gather aqua professionals to boost the collective morale.
Then we explored how we could enter into a strategic alliance arrangement to work towards a common goal that would benefit aqua participants, instructors, venues, the industry sector and our own businesses.
Aqua Alliance was born - we all believed there was a need for a platform to get various parts of the sector to align and become a force for exercising in water.
We have enough history with each other to respect and accommodate our unique personalities. We know our different elements, networks, attributes, skills, and knowledge will make it a strong alliance.
The idea for our first forum and conference – the 2023 Industry Forum and AquaSummit was the natural next step. It’s what we do and the best way to ensure the future success of the sector.
