Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University

What Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University does

The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability is an academic institute housed within San Francisco State University's College of Liberal & Creative Arts, founded in 1996 by disability historian and activist Paul K. Longmore. It operates as a public-sector cultural and educational organization rather than a commercial entity, with no proprietary technology products. Its portfolio centers on disability studies scholarship, scholar-activism, and community programming: the Superfest Disability Film Festival (the world's longest-running disability film festival, dating to 1970), the Emerge Fellowship Program for emerging disabled scholar-activists, the Patient No More traveling exhibit on the 1977 504 Sit-in and the ADA, the Anthem-funded Longmore Student Scholarship Fellows for students with disabilities in healthcare fields, the Accessible Comics Collective, the 5A Disability Justice Curriculum, the Tiger Talk speaker series, and monthly Café Crip hybrid discussions.

The Institute is staffed by approximately eight personnel, led by Interim Director Emily Beitiks, Associate Director Emily Smith Beitiks, and Director Catherine Kudlick. Its business model is grant- and donation-funded, anchored by San Francisco State University's institutional support plus external philanthropic capital — most notably a $1 million three-year Mellon Foundation grant (2023) and a $100,000 Anthem Blue Cross donation (2022). Programs are offered largely free to participants through hybrid in-person and Zoom delivery with ASL interpretation, CART, and live audio description.

Reach extends from a Bay Area core to a national and international audience via hybrid events, traveling exhibits (e.g., Park City Museum), and earned-media coverage. Distribution channels include the Institute's website and news blog, email newsletter, organic social media, and event programming. As a public university unit with no commercial pricing model, customer acquisition is event- and community-led, and growth is constrained by grant cycles rather than market demand.

Name

Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University

Legal name

Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University

Website

https://longmoreinstitute.sfsu.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability is an academic institute at San Francisco State University advancing disability studies through scholarship, advocacy, and cultural programming, including the world's longest-running disability film festival. It serves disabled scholars, artists, activists, students, and the broader public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Studies & Advocacy Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGADAH

Special Education, Disability Support & Inclusive Education Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

SECONDARYBPAGALAM

Disability Services & Assistive Solutions (Accessibility, Assistive Tech)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

SECONDARYEDALAGAA

Academic Accommodations & Access Planning (ADA/504)

Education/Student Services & Campus Operations/Disability Services & Accessibility

Keywords

• Disability studies
• Disability film festival
• Scholar-activism programs
• Accessibility education
• Disability advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: The Institute receives major grant funding from foundations supporting disability studies initiatives. The Mellon Foundation provided a $1 million grant over three years to fund the Emerge program.
2. Corporate Donations: Corporate donations from healthcare partners to support scholarship programs for students with disabilities pursuing healthcare careers. Anthem Blue Cross donated $100,000 for scholarships.
3. University Funding: Core operational funding provided by San Francisco State University as part of the College of Liberal & Creative Arts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

An academic institute within San Francisco State University that studies and showcases disabled people's experiences through public education, scholarship, and cultural events. It operates programs including the world's longest-running disability film festival (Superfest), a fellowship program for emerging disability studies scholar-activists (Emerge), traveling historical exhibits (Patient No More), scholarship programs for students with disabilities in healthcare, and community dialogue series.

Product overview

The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability is an academic institute at San Francisco State University that operates as a unified cultural and educational organization focused on disability studies, scholarship, and advocacy. Its portfolio includes the Superfest Disability Film Festival (the world's longest-running disability film festival), the Emerge Fellowship Program (a Mellon Foundation-funded summer workshop for emerging disabled scholar-activists), the Patient No More traveling exhibit, the Longmore Student Scholarship Fellows program (funded by Anthem Blue Cross), the Accessible Comics Collective, the 5A Disability Justice Curriculum, the Tiger Talk series, and Café Crip monthly events. These programs collectively advance the Institute's mission to study and showcase disabled people's experiences through public education, scholarship, and cultural events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Superfest: The longest running disability film festival in the world, debuted in 1970 and has become an eagerly anticipated international event celebrating cutting-edge cinema that portrays disability through diverse, complex, unabashed and engaging lens.
• Emerge
• Patient No More
• Accessible Comics Collective

Products and services

• Superfest Disability Film Festival The longest running disability film festival in the world (34 years running), featuring annual showcases of cinema portraying disability through diverse, complex, unabashed and engaging lens. Aimed at film enthusiasts, disability advocates, and the general public interested in disability representation in cinema.
• Emerge Fellowship Program A three-year initiative providing month-long summer workshops for emerging Disability Studies scholar-activists. Supports disabled activists, artists, cultural producers, filmmakers, and academics with mentorship, professional development, and a $10,000 honorarium per fellow. Each cohort includes 10 fellows (30 total over three years).
• Patient No More Exhibit

Quantifiable outcome

• 34 years of Superfest disability film festival programming showcasing disability through authentic, complex lens
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Creative BoomminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 March 2023Creative Boom featured the Accessible Comics Collective and Hatiye Garip's work on accessible illustration, citing SF State's program and extending reach of disability arts content.
• Park City MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2023The Park City Museum hosted the Patient No More exhibit, a virtual and traveling exhibit examining the 1977 504 Sit-in that led to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• San Francisco State University (College of Liberal & Creative Arts)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Institute is housed within SF State's College of Liberal & Creative Arts, providing institutional infrastructure, faculty connections, student access, and operational support.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Arts and Disability Center (UCLA): A university-based program promoting the inclusion of artists with disabilities in the arts sector. It parallels Longmore's role as a university-housed institute advancing disability arts, scholarship, and accessible programming on a national stage.
• ReelAbilities Film Festival: A multi-city disability film festival showcasing films about disability by disabled filmmakers. It is the most direct competitor to Superfest as a disability cinema festival with comparable audience-development and festival-programming missions.
• Disability Visibility Project: An online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability stories and culture. It is directly comparable to the Longmore Institute's scholar-activist and disability-arts programming, particularly its storytelling, advocacy, and community-building components.
• Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF): A national disability rights law and policy organization based in the Bay Area. It is comparable to Longmore in mission alignment (disability rights and ADA legacy preservation, including the 504 Sit-in history the Institute documents in Patient No More) and in Bay Area ecosystem positioning.

Regional players

• AXIS Dance Company: A pioneering Bay Area disability dance company with integrated ensembles of disabled and non-disabled performers. Comparable to Longmore because it operates in the same Bay Area disability arts ecosystem that Longmore's Emerge program activates, though its core product is performance rather than scholarship.
• LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired: A San Francisco-based nonprofit serving blind and low-vision community members with programming, training, and advocacy. It is comparable to Longmore as a Bay Area disability-focused nonprofit, though it is direct-service rather than scholarship- and arts-oriented.

Broad incumbents

• The Viscardi Center: A national nonprofit network advancing disability inclusion through education, employment, and advocacy programming. Comparable to Longmore because it runs multi-program disability portfolios with scholarship and youth-leadership components, though with a much broader service scope.
• Syracuse University Disability Studies Program: An established university-based academic program in disability studies with undergraduate and graduate offerings. It is comparable to Longmore as an academic home for disability scholarship, though housed in a private R1 university rather than a public comprehensive.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History – Disability History Initiative: A national museum initiative documenting and exhibiting American disability history, including ADA-era material culture. It is comparable to Longmore's Patient No More exhibit in its role preserving 504 Sit-in and ADA history for public audiences.

Emerging players

• Alice Wong / Disability Visibility (community organizer): An independent disability justice organizer whose books, podcasts, and online community overlap with Longmore's cultural and advocacy programming. Comparable as an emerging platform for disability narrative-building and community leadership development.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SFSU
• Facebookfacebook.com/sanfranciscostate
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/longmoreinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/sanfranciscostate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University