The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is governed by a group of senior devotees, men and women, called the Governing Body Commission (GBC).
At the time of writing, the GBC body has thirty-two members who are individually responsible for overseeing the management and spiritual standards of ISKCON centers in assigned geographic regions. The governing body is administered through a GBC executive committee (EC) that consists of a chairperson, and frst and second vice chairpersons. These executive posts are held for one-year rotating assignments, after which time the chairperson’s term of offce expires, the frst vice chairperson succeeds the chairperson, and the second vice chairperson succeeds the frst vice chairperson. The governing body then elects a new second vice chairperson to join the executive committee each year.
GBC members also supervise specific projects, initiatives, and ministries. Following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada, the GBC body convenes yearly in Mayapur, West Bengal, India, for its Annual General Meeting. They discuss proposals, specific issues, and projects within ISKCON, and pass resolutions by majority vote.
Often working under the GBC are regional governing bodies (RGBs) comprised of GBC zonal secretaries and additional leaders within the region. RGBs undertake the supervision of ISKCON centers and projects on a region-specific level, such as Europe,South America, and India.
According to Srila Prabhupada’s directions, all ISKCON temples are financially independent, yet function under the ecclesiastical management of the GBC. A temple president, who is responsible for carrying out the mission locally manages each ISKCON temple and works toward achieving the goals of ISKCON as outlined by Srila Prabhupada. While working under the supervision of their assigned GBC zonal secretary, temple presidents are encouraged to act with local initiative and are responsible for overseeing all functions of a temple. Moreover, temple presidents have the responsibility of maintaining in their local center ISKCON’s spiritual standards as outlined by Srila Prabhupada.
You can learn more about the GBC at https://gbc.iskcon.org/