John Ackerly is heading up a non-profit renewable energy organization called Alliance for Green Heat. The organization promotes policies and solutions for biomass to be a mainstream renewable, carbon-neutral thermal energy source, and a way for low-income populations to secure affordable and renewable heat.

Ackerly was the President of the International Campaign for Tibet for 10 years and worked for ICT for a total of 21 years. He wrote many reports on Tibet, including: Forbidden Freedom: Beijing's Control of Religion in Tibet; The Suppression of a People: Accounts of Torture and Imprisonment in Tibet; Nuclear Tibet: Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Waste on the Tibetan Plateau; A Season to Purge: Religious Repression in Tibet, and Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet.

He worked closely with the U.S. Congress and United Nations bodies to address the crisis in Tibet and has conducted 5 fact-finding trips to Tibet to investigate conditions. Mr. Ackerly attended Dartmouth College and the Washington College of Law, and researched the Romanian dissident movement at the University of Bucharest from 1978-1980. Prior to joining ICT, John practiced civil rights law in a private firm in Mississippi.