Meet our Staff and Board of Directors

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), a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ), Gormley has 20 years of experience in health-related media communications. He is a senior policy advisor for Citizens for Health, an advisory board member of the National Health Research Institute (NHRI) and a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). As of February 2009, Gormley is Editor of an anti-aging dermatology journal in New York City. From 2006 to 2008, Gormley directed three leading health-food trade magazines for VRM Inc. He previously served as the longtime editor-in-chief of Better Nutrition magazine (1995 to 2002) and founded Remedies magazine in 2005. A consumer health advocate and industry champion, Gormley has also been a frequent guest on television and national radio where he has spoken out on a variety of health and regulatory issues. His five published books include the User's Guide to Natural Treatments for Lyme Disease and his blogs include The Gormley Files.

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.

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 imortation and distribution. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Law.

Mark Griffith (Chief Operating Officer), brings more than twenty five years experience achieving creative solutions for commercial and nonprofit business concerns with entrepreneurial ingenuity and spirit. He brings a professional expertise focused on organizational planning, business and program development, finance, marketing, fund development and operations management. 

Mark has extensive experience working with start-up organizations, especially companies and individuals generating original ideas, products and services. He earned a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Golden Gate University; and Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas Tech University. Active in artistic, cultural and professional arenas, Mark enjoys residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.