After surpassing its US$20,000 (€17,940, £15,287) crowd-funding goal, nonprofit Wellness Warrior will proceed with its PolicyWell.com “wellness scorecard” online watchdog site.

The site will monitor US congressional and senate votes and identify which legislators are working for (or against) health and wellness; track the progress (or lack of progress) on key bills; rank all politicians by their commitment to wellness; help the public stay informed about the issues that concern them the most; support legislation that puts health first; and connect users with other like-minded Americans who prioritise health and wellness.

The effort brought together an industry-wide coalition that includes the Washington Spa Alliance, Green Spa Network, Global Wellness Institute and the International Spa Association.

“PolicyWell.com is a powerful tool that will help our community affect national change towards health and wellbeing for all Americans,” said Damon Cory-Watson, executive director of Wellness Warrior. “We’re thrilled to see such a strong outpouring of support from the wellness and spa industry.”

Cory-Watson said the organisation plans to have a robust beta-version of the website up and running by the time the ISPA Conference and Expo takes place 13-15 September.

“We really wanted our work to be relevant for this election season (in November),” he explained.

Earlier this year, spa leaders and Wellness Warrior board members and executive director Damon Cory-Watson traveled to Washington D.C. to promote a legislative agenda advocating clean agriculture, pure water, and better regulation of toxic chemicals.

Dr. Brent Bauer, Mayo Clinic’s director of complementary and integrative medicine, has hailed the greater civic involvement of the spa and wellness community saying: “Americans increasingly turn to the spa community to learn about the benefits of plant-based diets, exercise, to re-define ideas of beauty and well-being, and to learn techniques of mindfulness and preventive medicine.”