This article examines the ways in which being a member of a federation governing body impacts upon the governor identities of individuals. Using an ideographic case study based upon a single academy federation, the investigation employs a framework for identity analysis to analyse qualitative in-depth interviews with members within governing organizations in the federation. The data reveal changing understandings around the term "governor", the bifurcation of actual and perceived roles between the executive governing body and the advisory committees, and important insights into governor succession planning. The study concludes that future research into governor identities is important in terms of both governor role performance and the maturation and development of federation systems of school governance. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)