The Feminist Institute

What The Feminist Institute does

The Feminist Institute (TFI) is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2016 by Kathleen Landy, that preserves and provides digital public access to feminist archival materials documenting women's contributions to culture from the 1960s to the present. The organization operates a postcustodial archive model, partnering with feminist organizations, individual estates, creators, and collecting institutions — including A.I.R. Gallery, the New York Public Library, the Global Fund for Women / International Museum of Women, supersisters, the Addresses Project, and the Mary Beth Edelson Estate — to digitize and surface materials that would otherwise be scattered across physical archives. End users are primarily researchers, students, and the general public who access holdings online without charge.

TFI's core product is the TFI Digital Archive, a public-facing platform built on CollectiveAccess (an open-source digital archive management system) that catalogs people, places, historical events, collections, and repositories, holding 477+ people records, 336 images, 29 sounds, 40 videos, and additional ephemera and archived websites. Complementary products include curated Digital Exhibitions (e.g., the multi-chapter Google Arts & Culture presentation for A.I.R. Gallery's 50th anniversary), the Alive in the Archive interview series, an events program of archival workshops, film screenings, and lectures, the Pop-Up Memory Lab mobile digitization service for obsolete physical media, and a content blog distributed via Substack and major social channels. A Board of Directors (chaired by Dr. Amanda Foreman) and an Advisory Board of approximately 50 members provide governance and sectoral reach.

TFI's business model is donation-based, supplemented by targeted crowdfunding campaigns and grants; the only disclosed inflow is the November 2023 'Preserving the Feminist Internet' Kickstarter, which raised approximately $25,000 and unlocked a $25,000 matching gift. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, reflecting the absence of commercial transaction layers; the platform is free to access and the organization is funded by tax-deductible contributions to its EIN (82-1159850). The organization is privately held as a nonprofit corporation with no parent company, subsidiaries, or pending M&A activity.

Name

The Feminist Institute

Legal name

The Feminist Institute

Website

https://thefeministinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Feminist Institute is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2016, that operates a public digital archive of feminist historical materials built on CollectiveAccess, serving researchers, students, and the general public through donated and partner-contributed holdings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Cultural Archives

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms (MPAJAMAJ), Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ)

Keywords

• Feminist archival preservation
• Digital archive platform
• Cultural heritage digitization
• Nonprofit archival services
• Documentary preservation

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: TFI is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that relies on donations from individuals to support digitization initiatives, digital preservation work with feminist organizations, and special projects such as digital exhibitions and oral histories.
2. Campaign Fundraising: TFI conducts specific fundraising campaigns such as their Kickstarter campaign 'Preserving the Feminist Internet' which surpassed a $25,000 goal with a $25,000 matching gift from a generous donor.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

The Feminist Institute preserves and digitizes feminist archival materials and provides free public access through its TFI Digital Archive platform, including ephemera, images, sounds, videos, and archived websites. The organization also produces digital exhibitions, an interview series, in-person events and pop-up memory labs, and partners with collecting institutions to support collaborative digitization and preservation of feminist history.

Product overview

The Feminist Institute operates a unified digital archive platform (TFI Digital Archive) that serves as the central repository for feminist archival materials. The organization's portfolio consists of the core archive platform alongside complementary products including Digital Exhibitions (curated scholarly exhibitions), the Alive in the Archive interview series, Events programming (workshops, film screenings, lectures), a Blog content platform, and the Pop-Up Memory Lab service. The Partnership Program provides archival support services to partner institutions. Together, these offerings enable TFI to document and provide public access to feminist contributions to culture while promoting information activism and gender equity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TFI Digital Archive The primary digital archive platform providing public access to digitized feminist archival materials including ephemera, images, sounds, videos, and documents spanning the 1960s to present. Browseable by people, places, historical events, collections, and repositories.
• Digital Exhibitions Curated digital exhibitions drawn from feminist ephemera in the TFI Digital Archive, created by scholars, arts professionals, and graduate researchers to tell stories of feminist achievement, protest, and art.
• Alive in the Archive An interview series that amplifies gender-marginalized voices by exploring personal archiving as a feminist act, featuring notable feminists and artists (e.g., Rosanne Cash).
• Events Program Archival workshops, pop-up memory labs, film screenings, exhibitions, and lectures celebrating feminist legacy-building.
• Pop-Up Memory Lab Mobile archival service offering 90-minute consultations and digitization of various media formats including VHS, Hi8, miniDV tapes, audiocassettes, optical media, floppy disks, negatives, photographs, and documents.
• Partnership Program Provides legacy-building resources, funding, and archival support to collecting institutions, memory projects, feminist organizations, and notable feminists through collaborative digitization, physical records rescue, and born-digital preservation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 477+ people records in the digital archive
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• A.I.R. GallerycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership to digitize A.I.R. Gallery's 25 years of history including ephemera, photographs, catalogs, articles, and correspondence. The collaboration resulted in a multi-chapter digital exhibition on Google Arts & Culture celebrating A.I.R. Gallery's 50th anniversary as the first U.S. artist-led, feminist cooperative.
• New York Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership announced in March 2022 to collaborate on feminist archival and preservation initiatives.
• Global Fund for Women / International Museum of WomencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to preserve and document the work of the International Museum of Women, addressing feminist digital preservation challenges and capturing born-digital resources that have reached obsolescence.
• supersisterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to digitize supersisters trading cards celebrating feminist icons and their documentation, including correspondence with the Congresswomen's Caucus.
• Addresses ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to document lesbian and queer space and memory in New York City through map-making, oral history interviews, ephemera, and portraiture. The project investigates LGBTQ history from the early 1900s to present.
• Pen and BrushsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership hosting the TFI Pop-Up Memory Lab at their New York City location, providing space for archival consultations and digitization services.
• Art and FeminismsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner in feminist archival and digitization initiatives.
• Women's Studio WorkshopsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to digitize and preserve Women's Studio Workshop archival materials in the TFI Digital Archive.
• LGBTQ Artists Archive ProjectsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for preserving LGBTQ+ artists' archival documentation.
• Dindga McCannoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to digitize Dindga McCannon's Capsule Collection documenting her career as a visual and fiber artist, muralist, activist, teacher, author, and illustrator, including her founding of 'Where We At' Black Women Artists, Inc.
• The American LGBTQ+ MuseumsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in preserving and documenting LGBTQ+ cultural history.
• City LoresupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in documenting urban cultural history including feminist contributions.
• On This SpotsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in documenting specific locations and their cultural significance.
• Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc.supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProfessional organization partner for ethical digitization considerations and archival best practices workshops.
• Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProfessional library organization partner supporting archival initiatives.
• AWARE (Archive of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner focused on making women artists more visible through archival work.
• ArtTablesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional organization supporting women in the visual arts.
• Woman's Art JournalsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner publication for documenting women's art history.
• Mary Beth Edelson EstatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to preserve and digitize Mary Beth Edelson's SoHo loft and extensive archival materials including her feminist art and activism documentation.
• Phyllis Krim EstatesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to launch the Phyllis Krim Capsule Collection in the TFI Digital Archive.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media / NYU Special Collections: NYU's special collections include archives on feminist art and activism. Comparable as a NYC-based institutional collector and TFI partnership prospect/competitor for feminist holdings.
• Barnard College Center for Research on Women: NYC-based center supporting feminist scholarship, including archives and publishing. Comparable in feminist scholarship community and NYC footprint.

Direct peers

• Schlesinger Library at Harvard Radcliffe Institute: Major research library dedicated to women's history with extensive feminist archives. Comparable as a peer institution preserving and providing access to feminist primary source materials, though anchored in a university setting.
• Archive of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions (AWARE): Paris-based nonprofit dedicated to making women artists more visible through archival research and exhibitions. Direct partner and thematic peer, focused on visibility for women in the arts.
• Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History (Smith College): Special collections repository at Smith College focused on the history of women, with strengths in feminist and social movement archives. Comparable in archival mission and donor/partner relationships.
• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library that preserves websites, audiovisual media, and cultural content for public access. TFI runs a similarly themed (but topical) digital archive and postcustodial model, making this the closest direct peer in mission and operating approach.

Emerging players

• Documenting the Now: Nonprofit focused on preserving at-risk digital and web content from social movements. Highly comparable to TFI's Preserving the Feminist Internet initiative; overlaps in born-digital preservation tooling.
• AV Preserve: Consultancy specializing in digital preservation, audiovisual migration, and archive digitization services. Comparable to TFI's Pop-Up Memory Lab and digitization capabilities for at-risk media.

Broad incumbents

• Digital Public Library of America: Federated digital library aggregating content from libraries, archives, and museums across the U.S. Comparable to TFI's federated distribution model and emphasis on free public access to primary sources.
• Smithsonian Archives of American Art: National collection documenting American art history including women artists. Overlaps with TFI's collecting scope on feminist visual arts but operates at a much larger institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thefeministinst
• Facebookfacebook.com/feministinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/thefeministinstitute
• TikToktiktok.com/@thefeministinstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-feminist-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 The Feminist Institute