Michael McCormack (President), has been practicing law as a commercial litigation attorney for over 20 years, and for several years has been a holistic legal and organizational counselor focusing on emerging health law matters, including regulation and advocacy. In addition to his experience with the legal system, Michael is an experienced mediator, seminar presenter and organizational consultant.
He graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1984, where he was also a high school "street law" teacher. As a shareholder and part of the management team for one of the western United States' largest law firms, Michael was co-chair of the firm's Recruiting and Professional Development Program. He was awarded Martindale Hubbell's highest rating of "AV" for practice excellence and ethical integrity.
Michael is a student and practitioner of numerous complementary health and "self-organization" modalities. He is an ordained minister, as well as founder and president of the Tahoma Youth Basketball Association in his hometown of Maple Valley, Washington, where he lives with his wife, Melissa and their five children.
James J. Gormley (Senior Policy Advisor) has fought for consumers on a wide range of issues, including: dietary 
supplements, folic acid fortification, DHA for infant formula, organics, healthy kid foods, food irradiation, GMOs, sustainable agriculture and many other issues. An award-winning journalist, consumer health advocate and commentator, he has been a frequent guest on television and national radio, and today is a sought-after speaker on health, health-freedom and regulatory issues. A U.S. delegate to a major health conference in China in 2001, Gormley is the author or co-author of the User’s Guide to Natural Treatments for Lyme Disease (2006), User's Guide to Detoxification, Health Benefits of Phosphatidylserine, User’s Guide to Brain-Boosting Supplements, and DHA, A Good Fat (Kensington/Zebra, 1999). His recent scientific articles include the lead review on nutritional supplements and metabolic syndrome. He has served on Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) delegations to Codex Alimentarius in Paris and Rome and on the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) Communications Committee since 1996. Gormley, who is a member of Jonathan Emord's Coalition to End FDA and FTC Censorship has a regular editorial column on NPI Center and is also on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Natural Health Research Institute (NHRI). From 2002 to 2006 he headed up regulatory affairs for Purchase, New York-based Nutrition 21, Inc., a leading nutritional bioscience company (www.nutrition21.com) and in September 2006 was appointed the editorial director of the VRM magazine group in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which published Vitamin Retailer, Nutrition Industry Executive and Organic Products Retailer magazines (www.vitaminretailer.com).
Janice C. Lipsen is president of Counselors for Management, a privately held government relations firm. She works with both private and government clients in the development and management of their public policy objectives particularly in the areas or health and wellness. She has served as assistant to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Carl Albert and currently is a registered lobbyist for the National Association of Naturopathic Physicians. She is also the Director of the Governor of Samoa's Washington office and works closely with the governor's representatives in Washington.
Elissa Parker has been an environmental lawyer since 1970, serving in various roles, including state Special Assistant Attorney General for environmental protection, Director of a state enforcement office, and most recently, manager of a $3 million per year independent environmental research and policy effort in the District of Columbia. At the Environmental Law Institute, where she has served since 1984, she is Vice President of Research and Policy, a division of the Institute which seeks to improve environmental protection through the strengthening of law, policy and management in the United States and worldwide. Her division has had active programs and partners in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India.
Elwood Richard. The founder of NOW Foods, Elwood Richard has been actively involved in the
natural products industry since 1960. As a founding member of both the NNFA's Standards Committee as well as the Natural Health Research Institute, Elwood has made it his life's work to improve the integrity of nutritional science, manufacturing standards, and product awareness to both retailers and consumers alike. Elwood has always fought for the rights of consumers to freely purchase and use safe supplements. In 2004, he received the NNFA's prestigious Crusader Award. Just one year earlier, his company, NOW Foods, was voted 2003 Manufacturer of the Year. In January of 2005, Elwood retired as NOW's President, though he remains active on the company's Board of Directors, and is heavily involved in a number of advocacy issues.
James S. Turner, Esq. (Chair), a principal in the firm Swankin & Turner, represents 
businesses as well as individuals and consumer groups in a wide variety of regulatory matters concerning food, drug, health, environmental and product-safety matters. Turner has appeared before every major consumer regulatory agency, including the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health. Mr. Turner has served as special counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Food, Nutrition, and Health and to the Senate Government Operations Subcommittee on Government Research. He has also been a policy consultant to major corporations in the food, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries, including such companies as Kraft Foods, The Quaker Oats Company, Hoffmann-LaRoche and AT&T. Recently Mr. Turner was the lead attorney on a successful petition to the FDA to reclassify acupuncture needles from Class III to Class II medical devices, permitting their legal importation and distribution. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Law.
Frank Herd, Jr. (Executive Director), was born in Edison, New Jersey. He graduated from St. Joseph’s High School as a National Merit Scholar and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Rutgers University. 
Frank has worked
as an activist and consumer advocate for 16 years, first with NJPIRG and then for 14 years with the Progressive Action Network (PAN), a canvass-based coalition of progressive political organizations.
In his career with PAN Frank’s talents were sought by several state and national consumer advocacy organizations in 5 states and in Washington, D.C. He has conducted hundreds of trainings on citizen activism and member development, and has personally raised over $1 million for consumer justice campaigns. In the 8 years prior to joining the Citizens for Health team, he was responsible for PAN’s largest office, a staff of 22 and an annual budget of over $850,000, and provided consistent funding and campaign support for 8 different consumer justice organizations.
Frank currently works from Minneapolis where he resides with his wife Sarah in a city that represents some of the best cultural diversions of bigger cities and whose neighborhoods retain the feeling of community that is all too swiftly disappearing under urban sprawl. They often take advantage of the rich natural beauty of the local lakes, woods and wildlife, indulging their love of long walks, canoeing, and bird watching.
Frank is an avid pool player and reader of science fiction, especially the fiction of Philip K. Dick. His favorite hobby, however, is spending quiet time with his wife and their pet cockatiel, Camus.
