Loren D. Israelsen

Loren D. ISRAELSEN is Executive Director of the United Natural Products Alliance.  He began his career as General Counsel of Nature’s Way Products, Inc., and served in various positions of increasing responsibility, including president. While acting as Vice President of Strategic Development, he engineered agreements with Efamol Ltd., Madaus AG, and Dr. Willmar Schwabe, GmbH, to bring phytomedicines to the United States.

He has been heavily involved in the ongoing political and regulatory issues facing the supplement industry. He has served in various capacities, including past General Counsel to the American Herbal Products Association, Counsel to the Bee Products Association, Co-Counsel to the European American Phytomedicine Coalition, Advisory Board Member to the Office of Technology Assessment Working Group on Dietary Supplement Regulation, and advisor to the Natural Products Quality Assurance Alliance, a dietary supplement industry group devoted to establishing standards and trade practices for dietary supplements. Mr. Israelsen has also served as industry liaison to the Food and Drug Administration’s Expert Advisory Committee to Ephedra and as advisor to the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements.

Since 1992, he has served as Executive Director of the Utah Natural Products Alliance, which was instrumental in the development and passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. He recently served as the U.S. issue manager for dietary supplements to the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue. He advises, lectures and writes extensively on the emerging issues facing the dietary supplement and functional foods industry. Mr. Israelsen received his B.S. in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, from Utah State University. He attended the Oxford University Queens College Jurisprudence Program in Oxford, England and received his J.D. from J. Rueben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University.

Heidi Calder

Ms. Heidi CALDER brings 20 years of experience in the sports medicine and natural health fields. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education with an emphasis in exercise physiology. She has also served as an instructor for the Utah Heart Association and worked at the LDS Hospital Fitness Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since 1987, she has been the executive assistant to Mr. Israelsen during her tenure at both Nature's Way and at LDI Group. She is a skilled gardener, chef and mother of three awesome boys.

Lindsay Wright

Ms Lindsay WRIGHT is UNPA’s able Director of Programs and Seminars. She manages many of the daily support functions at UNPA, including new client screening, meeting planning, building administration and executive assistant duties. In addition to holding a B.S. degree in Speech Communications from the University of Utah, Lindsay comes to us with experience in the fields of fitness and nutrition, finance, and the logistics of event planning, most notably as an assistant to NBC executives and media personalities during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.