Zeno Mountain Farm, Limited

What Zeno Mountain Farm, Limited does

Zeno Mountain Farm, Limited is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered on a 60-acre mountain-top parcel in Lincoln, Vermont, founded in 2005 as the Cheshire Project and operating free, year-round inclusive camps for people with and without disabilities. The organization runs 15 annual programs totaling 92 days of free programming — including Summer Camp (4 weeks, 80 participants), Fall Camp, Ski Camp with Vermont Adaptive, Sports Camp in Florida with AccessSportAmerica, Veterans Camp with Guardian Revival, Pickle Camp (recovery), Otter Camp (cancer), and Brain Injury Camp with Concussed — serving disabled individuals, veterans, cancer patients, traumatic brain injury survivors, and people in recovery, alongside non-disabled community members in a no-hierarchy 'everyone is a participant' model. Its physical campus comprises eight wheelchair-accessible cabins and treehouses, the Ron Simonsen Historic Theater (a relocated 1850s butter barn), a 200-foot accessible water slide, pond with sauna, and adaptive recreation facilities; in 2025 it completed a $2.2M capital-campaign renovation expanding the main house to sleep 50 and serve meals to 100.

Zeno's parallel film studio, active since 2005, is a core product line producing fully integrated cast-and-crew inclusive films that have achieved critical recognition including an SXSW Best Screenplay win, a NYT Critics' Pick, and a SAG-AFTRA Disability Awareness Award for Best Summer Ever (2020), now distributed on Hulu, Apple TV, and YouTube TV. The organization operates without federal or state funding, relying on individual donations (Givebutter), annual Dance Marathon fundraising, merchandise sales (Bonfire), and film licensing/royalties. GTM is community-led and event-driven: word-of-mouth and disability-advocacy partnerships drive participant recruitment, while film screenings and the 12-hour Dance Marathon drive both fundraising and awareness. Zeno has positioned itself as the consulting authority for Hollywood productions seeking authentic disabled representation (The Peanut Butter Falcon, Speechless).

Name

Zeno Mountain Farm, Limited

Legal name

Zeno Mountain Farm

Website

https://zenomountainfarm.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zeno Mountain Farm is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating free year-round inclusive camps and an award-winning film studio on a 60-acre Vermont campus, serving people with disabilities, veterans, cancer and TBI patients, and people in recovery alongside non-disabled community members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Community Services

NAICS

Recreational and Vacation Camps (except Campgrounds) (721214)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Adventure Base Camps (Trek/Climb/Expedition Camps) (THAGAOAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance) (EDAMALAI)

Keywords

• Disability camps
• Adaptive recreation
• Inclusive filmmaking
• Nonprofit programs
• Community retreats

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

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, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Primary revenue source from individual donors supporting programming. A $2.2 million capital campaign was completed for the main house renovation. Donors can give through Givebutter platform for general programming or specific projects.
2. Annual Dance Marathon: 12-hour dance-a-thon described as the biggest fundraising event of the year, bringing together community members who participate in person at Zeno or online.
3. Merchandise Sales: Official Zeno merchandise sold through Bonfire, including apparel and branded items.
4. Film Licensing and Screenings: Films like Best Summer Ever are available for rent on streaming platforms (Hulu, Apple TV, YouTube TV). Host a Film program allows organizations to screen films with talk-back sessions, generating awareness and potential donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Zeno Mountain Farm is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that runs free, year-round camps, retreats, and inclusive film projects for people with and without disabilities. It operates 15 camps per year totaling 92 days of programming across disability, veterans, cancer, brain injury, and recovery segments, and produces an inclusive film studio that has been operating since 2005. All programming is provided at no cost to participants and is funded through individual donations, an annual Dance Marathon, merchandise sales, and film licensing.

Product overview

Zeno Mountain Farm operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit offering free, accessible, year-round camping programs for people with disabilities, cancer, traumatic brain injuries, veterans, people in recovery, and other isolated populations. The organization runs 15 camps per year totaling 92 days, including Disability Camps (Summer, Fall, Ski, Sports, California, School camps), Veterans Camp, Pickle Camp (recovery), Otter Camp (cancer), and Brain Injury Camp. A core offering is the Zeno Film Studio, producing inclusive films since 2005 with integrated cast and crew, including award-winning productions like Best Summer Ever. Additional programs include the annual Dance Marathon fundraiser and community film screenings. All programs are free for participants and operate on a philosophy of belonging, service as currency, shared history, and collaborative creative projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Disability Camps Year-round disability-centered camps including the 4-week Summer Camp (80 participants, flagship original musical creation), week-long Fall Camp (40 people), adaptive Ski Camp in partnership with Vermont Adaptive, Florida Sports Camp, California RV Camp, and School Camps (immersive week-long field trips for up to 60 high school students). All programs are free and feature adaptive recreation, creative arts, and community building.
• Veterans Camp

Quantifiable outcome

• 80 people at Summer Camp, 40 at Fall/Ski Camp, 35 at Sports Camp, 30 at Veterans/Cancer/Brain Injury Camps, 60 students at School Camps
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles8 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Vermont AdaptivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for adaptive ski camps held in January and March at Vermont ski areas. 40 people with and without disabilities participate in adaptive skiing, sledding, curling, cold plunging, and barn soccer. Zeno 'tears up the mountain together in all conditions' with Vermont Adaptive.
• AccessSportAmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for week-long Sports Camp in Florida with four teams competing for the cup in windsurfing, outrigger canoeing, soccer, moneyball, and more. 35 participants with adaptive sports competition.
• Guardian RevivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Veterans Camp bringing 30 veterans from across the United States to Zeno for a week of outdoor adventures, arts, and storytelling.
• ConcussedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Cait Ward and Concussed organization for Brain Injury Camp during September with 30 people with multiple concussions or traumatic brain injuries. Features outdoor adventure, storytelling, and connection.
• Corby ReeseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for annual California Camp where 30 people with and without disabilities camp out in RVs on the west coast. Activities include beach swimming, redwood hiking, and Santa Cruz exploration.
• The Peanut Butter FalconminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZeno consulted on this feature film about a disabled character, one of several like-minded projects. Zeno has become the go-to organization to consult with when filmmakers create content including disabled characters and themes.
• SpeechlessminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZeno collaborated with this project as part of their consulting work with like-minded productions. Zeno has become the go-to organization to consult with when filmmakers make content that includes disabled characters and themes.
• The Cheshire ProjectcoreOthersCertified 501(c)(3) that is a DBA (doing business as) Zeno Mountain Farm. The Cheshire Project was started in 2005 in Venice, CA, where a group of friends gathered annually to film original movies. This was the precursor to Zeno Mountain Farm.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Special Olympics: Largest global organization serving people with intellectual disabilities through sports training and competition. Shares the adaptive-sports mission with Zeno's Sports Camp but at vastly greater scale and a much broader portfolio.
• Easterseals: Established national disability services network providing therapeutic recreation, camps, and advocacy. Overlaps with Zeno's adaptive-recreation mission but operates a much broader disability-services portfolio.
• Best Buddies International: Disability inclusion nonprofit spanning one-to-one friendships, jobs, and leadership programs. Comparable disability-inclusion mission and brand recognition but with a much wider program portfolio than Zeno.

Direct peers

• Camp Sunshine: Free retreat in Maine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Highly comparable free-camp model and family/medical-population focus to Zeno's Otter Camp.
• AccessSportAmerica: Zeno's partner for the annual Florida Sports Camp. Directly comparable adaptive-sports mission and high-need population served through competitive recreation.
• Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports: Zeno's operational partner for adaptive ski camps. Closest regional peer and direct collaborator on Zeno's January and March ski programming.
• Camp Jabberwocky: Free, volunteer-run inclusive summer camp on Martha's Vineyard for children and adults with disabilities. Direct operational analog to Zeno's disability camp programming and free-participant model.
• SeriousFun Children's Network (Hole in the Wall Gang Camp et al.): Network of free medically-supported camps for children with serious illnesses, founded by Paul Newman. Closest scale and mission analog to Zeno's free camp model for medically complex populations (cancer, TBI).
• Double H Ranch: Free Adirondacks-based camp for children with serious illnesses. Comparable mission, free-to-participant model, and residential adaptive recreation programming.

Emerging players

• Creative Growth Art Center: Oakland-based nonprofit art center and gallery for artists with developmental disabilities. Comparable creative-arts-for-disability focus and gallery/film-style outputs, but with a smaller, gallery-centric model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/zenomountainfarm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zeno-mountain-farm

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 Zeno Mountain Farm, Limited