 He is the chair emeritus of the board of advisors of The Fletcher School at Tufts University, his alma mater, and is the former chair of the board of trustees of Freedom House, serving there from September 2005 until January 2009.In 2008, Ackerman sat on the board for Unity08, an organization intended to fund third-party candidates.In October 2012 Ackerman, along with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Passport Capital founder John Burbank, funded the purchase of $1.75 million in independent political advertising, in the name of Ackerman's tax-exempt Americans Elect organization, to support the Senate campaign of Maine governor Angus King.