Lisa Ackerman is the co-founder of The Autism Community in Action (TACA), a nationally recognized organization supporting families affected by autism across the United States. She established TACA in 2000 after receiving an autism diagnosis for her 2½-year-old son and seeking community-based resources beyond those initially recommended. Lisa has led TACA’s growth into an organization that has served more than 100,000 parents nationwide. Under her leadership, TACA has convened over 40 national conferences, awarded more than 3,000 family scholarships, raised over $37 million to support family programs, and directed more than $5 million toward autism research. Lisa’s son is now a college graduate, employed, driving, and an accomplished musician, reflecting the long-term impact of timely access to education, therapeutic services, and appropriate medical care.

Prior to joining TACA, Lisa worked in the retail and real estate site selection for almost 20 years. Lisa was a co-founder of Integration Technologies and AnySite Software. Working with customers like Wal-Mart, Burger King and Shell Oil, Lisa has consulted and sold large solutions for planning and managing the retail site selection process using demographics, geographic information systems and disparate data sources.

In March 2004, Lisa retired from her real estate career to assume a full-time volunteer role as Executive Director for TACA. She transitioned from volunteer to a full-time professional capacity in July 2008. In June 2026, as a result of her Federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee appointment, Lisa transitioned her role to board member and Director of Strategic Initiatives.