Our Governance

Transparency International is a movement comprised of several elements: a global network of more than 100 National Chapters and Individual Members, the Board of Directors, the International Council, Chair and Vice-Chair, and the Chief Executive Officer who is leading the operations in Berlin and Washington. For more information, please find our charter here.

Our highest decision-making body is the Membership Meeting, where National Chapters and Individual Members come together to discuss critical issues, pass resolutions, and elect the Chair and Vice-Chair, and the Board of Directors, our central governing body.

National Chapters and Individual Members are key components of the Transparency International movement. Accredited chapters account for at least two-thirds of the voting power at Annual Membership Meetings, and together with the Individual Members they elect the Board of Directors.

The National Chapter Accreditation and Individual Appointment Policy aims to:

• Protect the integrity, cohesion and reputation of Transparency International
• Strengthen and support the National Chapters of the movement.

Under the direction of the Board, the secretariat and the Membership Accreditation Committee run a transparent and collaborative accreditation process to ensure that chapters and individual members continue to uphold the values and principles of the movement.

Chapters are accredited according to a set of objective standards as they go through three stages: first as national contact, then as national chapter in formation and finally to fully accredited national chapter status*.

Fully accredited national chapters pass through a review process every three years, aimed at ensuring continuous compliance with our standards and strengthening the work of the chapters. In instances where a chapter’s performance continually falls short of the standards, the chapter may voluntarily withdraw or face suspension from the movement or disaccreditation.

Following charter changes in 2019, Individual Membership is limited to those whose signature is on the Hague Founding Charter of the Society of 1993 ("Founding Members"). Individual members may face removal or suspension if their conduct does not align with the movement’s standards or somehow prejudices the reputation of the movement.

* Please note that in most areas of this website, for the purpose of conciseness national chapters, national chapters in formation, and national contacts are referred to as chapters, regardless of their status within the accreditation system. These designations do not imply any view on Transparency International’s part as to sovereignty or independent status of a geographical area.