Our Team / Te Whānau
Meet our team / te whānau
VisAble is overseen by a Board of Trustees that’s disabled-led, with 75% of trustees identifying as disabled, and the other trustees having either lived experience or particular skills that are useful to the Trust.
Our Board members and the VisAble team are based across Aotearoa.
Our operational team includes tāngata whaikaha Māori, disabled people, and kaimahi (staff) with expertise in disability, human rights, safeguarding adults, and violence prevention.
We partner with communities and with agencies in the disability sector and the FVSV prevention and response sector, to achieve VisAble’s purpose.
Combined with VisAble’s Values / Te Mātāpono, we use mana-enhancing, person-directed, and whānau-centred principles to ensure individuals remain in control of their lives.
Nan Jensen
Board Co-Chair & Audit and Risk Committee member
Nan is a barrister and solicitor in sole practice, specialising in disability law. Nan is a committee member for Parafed Waikato and the EGL Waikato Leadership Group, and a Director of Spectrum Care Limited.
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Nan is also a member of the Steering Group for Auckland Disability Law and a Director of The Disability Trustee Limited. Nan was diagnosed as autistic in 2020 and is mother to four children, two of whom are also autistic.
Gary Williams
Board Co-Chair
Gary Williams KSO MNZM PLY, is Ngāti Porou and a disabled person. He has an academic background in Computer Science and in Mathematics.
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Gary has an academic background in Computer Science and in Mathematics. Having spent almost 20 years at GNS Sciences, he then spent 11 years as the CEO of Disabled Persons Assembly. He used his position to influence strategic outcomes for the disability sector, both nationally and internationally.
Nowadays, he has multiple interests in the sector including with Whanau Ora, EGL, SAMS and Your Way Kia Roha. Gary is Kaumatua to tāngata whaikaha Māori to the disability communities and the go to national spokesperson on abuse in our communities.
Joanne Dacombe
Board member
Joanne is a Science Officer with Otago University, and an autistic peer reviewer and contributor for autism-based research.
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Joanne is Chair of the Kāpiti Disability Advisory Group under the Kāpiti Coast District Council, Chair of VisAble, Co-Chair of the Living Guidelines Group for Aotearoa New Zealand Autism Guideline: He Waka Huia Takiwātanga Rau, Past President for DPA, Secretary of My Life My Voice, Treasurer for Neuroscience and Trauma Informed Network Aotearoa, board member for Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia and New Zealand, and long-time passionate board member for Autism New Zealand.
She is on the Curriculum Voices group and the Disability Voices Group for the Ministry of Education Curriculum Refresh. She is also a member of the Police Disability Advisory Group on behalf of the Disabled People’s Organisation Coalition. She is an Autistic member of the Autism Research Centre at Canterbury University and a member of the Oversight Committee for Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research.
She is a member of the Reserve Bank Central Bank Digital Currency Forum and the Bankers Association Forum for Vulnerable and Older People. She previously served as a member of the disability expert advisory group for the Royal Commission of Enquiry for Abuse in State and Faith Based Care.
Leo McIntyre
Board member & Audit and Risk Committee member
Leo McIntyre is a Wellington-based independent consultant and mental health professional with 20 years’ experience in managing services, strategic advice and governance, supervision and mentoring, and working directly with people who experience mental distress.
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Most recently, until February 2024, he was a Principal Advisor at the Royal Commission on Abuse in State Care and in Faith-based Institutions.
He is experienced and respected as an advocate on disability and human rights issues at both individual and systemic levels. As Chair of Balance Aotearoa until 2023, Leo led their work with the Disabled Persons Organisations Coalition (DPOC) and was Chair of the Coalition from November 2019 to October 2020 and part of its delegation to Geneva for the UNCRPD Committee’s 2022 examination of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Marion Thomas
Board member, Board secretary & Chair of Audit and Risk Committee
Marion has extensive experience in the health and disability sectors, having worked as a Senior Management Consultant specialising in stakeholder relationship management, project and programme management, service development, and health service procurement.
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Marion has held senior roles in government and community services.
Marion’s dedication to improving services and empowering communities reflects her passion for justice and sustainable, impactful change that enhance the lives of disabled people. Marion has family members who are disabled.
Jonathan Tautari
Chief Executive
He/ Him
Jonathan lives in Te Tai Tokerau / Northland, and is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, and Ngāti Manaia and Tainui whakapapa. With over 18 years of providing policy management and senior advisory experience in the health and disability sectors, Jonathan is committed to making sure that services adapt to the evolving needs of communities they were created to support.
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Jonathan has actively engaged with communities across Aotearoa, collaborating with tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau to amplify their experiences, voices, and stories.
Listening to the lived experiences of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori has fostered Jonathan’s commitment to strengthening services for disabled people, ensuring they are of high quality and culturally responsive.
Claire Ryan
She / Her
Business Development Manager and Training Lead
Claire (Ōtākau / Otago) believes that the prevention and elimination of violence, abuse and neglect experienced by disabled people are paramount – and she’s committed to this kaupapa.
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With a near 40-year career working in disability, Claire brings passion and drive, especially in relation to human rights. She’s creative and motivational, thriving on the energy of like-minded people.
Claire’s working life has been dedicated to pushing the boundaries. She’s a firm believer in everyone’s right to live fully in their skin, without negativity or discrimination. Claire believes in the mahi of VisAble to ensure the protection of everyone's rights to citizenship and self-determination.
Petra Fowler
Family Violence/ Sexual Violence (FVSV) Network Educator
Petra (from Whangaparaoa) has been a social worker for 25+ years in various settings: with disabled people, in education, in foster care, in health and in mental health. Having a disabled brother, Petra has been drawn to working as an advocate from a young age.
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Petra has worked with many whānau, from all walks of life, of all ages and cultures. In recent years, her work has focused on safeguarding adults from abuse and neglect.
Petra’s passion is to help people improve their lives. She believes everyone deserves to be treated with respect and to have their rights upheld.
Jayne White
Business Lead
She / Her
Jayne (Te Whanganui a Tara / Wellington) brings experience in healthcare operations, having worked for Te Awakairangi Health Network PHO, and for Health New Zealand / Te Whatu Ora.
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Jayne has a broad range of experience in business management, process improvement, recruitment and HR, project and financial work, and in implementing robust systems to support compliance and excellence.
Having lived experience with disability for herself and her whānau, Jayne knows first-hand about the barriers that people face, and believes that everyone has the right to be treated with respect and inclusivity.
Te Turaa Hotene
Voice and Choice Educator
She / Her
Te Turaa (Tainui / Waikato) has over 17 years’ experience in social services (most recently in safeguarding / whakahaumarutia) and is driven by a deep commitment to the wellbeing and mana of our people.
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With experience across mental health, residential care, Whānau Ora, family violence prevention, health, justice and education, Te Turaa is especially committed to supporting takatāpui, tāngata whaikaha Māori and takiwātanga communities.
Te Turaa brings genuine heart to her mahi, working alongside individuals, whānau and communities from Pito to Rangatira kaumātua to enable whanaungatanga, care and connection. Her professional journey is grounded in Tikanga Māori practice and a passion for empowering people’s voices.
Antnz Burgess
Kaihāpaiāwhina | FVSV Disability Network Coordinator: Tangata Whaikaha Māori
ia / They/ Them
Antnz (Papaioea / Palmerston North) is takatāpui and tangata whaikaha Māori, with whakapapa to Te Āti Haunui a Pāpārangi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa. They have contributed lived and professional expertise to the EGL MidCentral Leadership Group and the Disability Reference Group for Whanaketia – the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.
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Their mahi draws on more than 20 years of experience across disability leadership, community development, outdoor safety, and advisory roles. With whanaungatanga and whakamana at the centre, they work to strengthen dignity, equity, and collective wellbeing. They are committed to driving solutions that make systems safer and more responsive.
Rebecca Hodgson
Voice and Choice Educator
She / Her
Rebecca (Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland) is a Registered Social Worker with over 25 years’ experience in assisting people and their whānau to navigate challenges and create the lives they want for themselves. Safeguarding people’s rights to live the life they choose, free from abuse and neglect, has been at the heart of this mahi.
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Rebecca has worked in the child protection, health, and disability sectors in New Zealand and England. Alongside social work practice and providing external supervision, Rebecca has supported organisational policy development and implementation.
More recently, Rebecca has worked as a Safeguarding Adults from Abuse Coordinator – both with the Disability Abuse Prevention and Response (DAPAR) prototype and VisAble.
Alta Sacra
Kāhapaiāwhina | FVSV Disability Network Coordinator
They/ Them
Alta (Ōtautahi Christchurch) is a disabled person whose lived experience underpins their commitment to strengthening safety and access while upholding the rights of tāngata whānau whaikaha Māori, disabled people, and families. Alta’s approach focuses on inclusive engagement and centring lived experience to shape safer futures.
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Alta’s mahi draws on expertise across disability, mental health, education, and social work, supported by tertiary qualifications (MscEd, MaSW).
Guided by the values of mana otuhake and whanaungatanga, Alta believes communities hold the knowledge needed for meaningful systems change, and they work alongside people to uphold choice, dignity, and inclusion.
Lee Tempest
Voice and Choice Educator (CPVA Lead)
Lee (Te Matau-a-Māui / Hawkes Bay) is mum of two adopted neurodivergent children and has had many years of lived experience of Child to Parent Violence and Abuse (CPVA). She leads VisAble’s CPVA kaupapa, based on her research and links to the international CPVA community.
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Lee is committed to building capability in the workforce as she’s keenly aware of the systemic barriers families encounter within service provision, due to the lack of awareness about this form of family violence.
Lee has a Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) and a Diploma in mental health and addiction. She’s a trauma-informed integrative somatic facilitator - supporting parents and caregivers, using gentle, body-based techniques that help calm the nervous system and make healing and coping easier.
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Kate’s whānau member has learning disabilities and autism. Regularly facing systemic challenges and barriers, Kate often witnesses ‘invisibility’ towards him when dealing with mainstream organisations. She strives to ensure he has enough understanding of complex matters to make informed choices and that his voice is heard and respected.
Having had first-hand experience of effective safeguarding in abusive situations, Kate is inspired by VisAble’s vision and mahi.