Governance & Leadership
Board of Trustees / Directors
disAbility Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly is governed by a dedicated Board of Trustees/Directors, who bring both lived experience and professional expertise to ensure our work always reflects our values of equality, rights, and inclusion.
The Board meets quarterly, with additional Away Days, subcommittee meetings, and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) throughout the year. Trustees are responsible for oversight, safeguarding, financial accountability, and strategic direction.
Day-to-day operations are led by our Chief Executive, Jane Johnson MBE, and our Senior Leadership Team, working alongside our passionate staff and volunteers to bring our values to life across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
How We Work
The Board provides strategic oversight, ensuring our plans and performance stay true to our mission and the Social Model of Disability.
Subcommittees meet throughout the year to focus on key areas such as finance, safeguarding, and lived experience, ensuring strong governance and informed decision-making.
Our Approach to Leadership
We are guided by the Social Model of Disability, which recognises that people are disabled not by their impairments, but by barriers in society.
This belief shapes how we lead, make decisions, and stay accountable to the people we represent.
Membership
Our members play an active role in shaping our direction. Trustees are elected from within our membership, which includes no less than 51% of people with lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions.
We regularly consult through co-production activities, ensuring our strategy reflects the needs, voices, and priorities of the people we support. This keeps lived experience firmly at the heart of every decision we make.
User-Led Commitment
As a user-led organisation, at least 75% of our Board are people with a long-term health condition, disability, or caring role, and at least 51% of our full membership have lived experience.
This ensures our governance and direction are led by the people we exist to serve.
Ethos and Standards
We follow the Charity Governance Code and uphold the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and inclusion in everything we do.
disAbility Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, which means we reinvest all income back into our charitable work rather than distributing profit. This structure provides strong legal and financial accountability, protecting our charitable assets for the benefit of our community.
Our governance reflects our values: respectful, participatory, and rights-based, ensuring we lead with integrity and purpose.
Get Involved
Our members elect Directors/Trustees at the Annual General Meeting each year. If you’d like to get involved, stand for election, or learn more about how we’re governed, visit our Get Involved page.