Between October 14 and 19, 2013, in Juhu, Mumbai, India, ISKCON’s Governing Commission holds its Strategic Planning Team meetings.

Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) left voluminous instructions for the Governing Body Commission (GBC) on how he wanted them to lead and care for this spiritual movement.  For those who may not know, the GBC is composed of thirty-three members, and is responsible for overseeing the management and spiritual standards of ISKCON centers around the world.  As one can imagine, this is a great deal of responsibility for these individuals, who also act in the capacity of spiritual authorities, missionaries, and leaders throughout the world.

To ensure a healthy, sustainable and vibrant ISKCON for the future, the GBC has recognized the need for strategic planning and thinking.  Specifically, to anticipate and address present and future concerns on relevant issues, such as the need for increased devotee care, improved and innovative outreach activities and succession planning by identifying young leaders today and training them to serve in leadership positions in the future.  These are just a few of many areas identified by the GBC’s Strategic Planning Team (SPT) as being relevant to the positive growth of ISKCON.  You can find a complete list of initiatives here: http://gbc.iskcon.org/initiatives/

In order to come up with systems and processes that will actually impact and improve the day to day lives of devotees and ISKCON at large, the GBC has created committees to address each of these concerns.  These committees are not formed solely of GBC members but also members of what has come to be called the Strategic Planning Network (SPN).  The SPN consists of over one hundred talented devotees brought in by the GBC for their varied experiences and success in areas such as temple development, leadership, communication skills, finance, and management.  Twice a year these committees gather at the GBC strategic planning meetings, and throughout the year continue their work on their initiatives via conference calls and emails.

Over the past few days, committees have been working hard not only on their long-term goals but also on their offerings for this year’s upcoming ISKCON Leadership Sanga, which will take place in Mayapur from February 16-23, 2014.  These sessions will send attendees home with practical tools to improve their centers and service to the devotees.

 Over the next few days, reports on the progress made on some of these committees will be showcased.