Breakthrough Inspiration Award

Dr. Ackerman is the founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict whose mission is to advance the understanding of civil resistance among dissidents, scholars, media, and related international constituencies.

Dr. Ackerman co-authored Strategic Nonviolent Conflict (1994) and A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict (2000). The latter volume was a companion book for the Emmy-nominated documentary of the same title for which he was the series editor and principal content advisor. Dr. Ackerman was the executive producer of Bringing Down a Dictator, a Peabody award-winning documentary that chronicled the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. He is also the executive producer of Orange Revolution which appeared on public television in 2009 and 2010.

Dr. Ackerman is also the Chair of Americans Elect, an internet based initiative to nominate and elect a centrist based ticket for President and Vice President in 2012. He is the Managing Director of Rockport Capital Incorporated, a private investment firm. Since its inception in 1990, Rockport has made numerous direct investments in fields as diverse as movie libraries, publishing, propane distribution, textiles, custom labeling, wax refining, auto part remanufacturing, SMS integration and internet-based food retailing.

Dr. Ackerman holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where he is the Chairman of the Board of Overseers. In addition to board membership on the Council of Foreign Relations, he is a member of the U.S. Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace, a member of the U.S. board of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and is on the advisory board for American Media Abroad.