Making Space

Making Space connects disabled professionals with career opportunities and free accessible training while equipping employers like NBC Sports, Netflix, and Hello Sunshine with pre-qualified talent pipelines and Disability Confidence Training -- embedding disabled talent in pre-production and production roles from the start.

ENABLE Model location

• Builder-side Interventions → Set Requirements that Include Accessibility
• Builder-side Interventions → Create Accessible Content
• Builder-side Interventions → Design Accessible Experiences
• Builder-side Interventions → Develop Accessible Implementations

What it is

Making Space is a venture-backed B2B SaaS talent acquisition and learning platform, founded by Keely Cat-Wells, that connects disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill professionals with meaningful career opportunities and free education while equipping employers to hire, retain, and build accessible workplaces.1 Cat-Wells, who became disabled at 17, previously founded C Talent -- a talent agency for disabled creators -- which was acquired in 2022 in what was reported as the largest acquisition of a company specializing in disabled talent.2

The platform offers disabled job seekers free, accessible training (with sign language interpretation, closed captioning, and assistive technology compatibility), an AI tool called "Compass" that translates lived experience of disability into transferable skills, and curated job matching.1 For employers, Making Space provides pre-qualified disabled talent pipelines, custom curricula based on analyzed skill gaps, Disability Confidence Training, and retention support. The company reports a 100% increase in manager confidence hiring and retaining disabled talent after engagement, and being 3× more effective at delivering career-ready disabled talent.1

Making Space Media, the company's media production arm co-led by CMO Sophie Morgan (BAFTA-nominated disability rights advocate), produces film, TV, educational, and promotional content centering disabled voices. It has a first-look deal with Hello Sunshine (Reese Witherspoon) for unscripted content placing disabled talent front and center.3

Why it matters

Disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed.1 When the entertainment, media, and creative industries exclude disabled talent from behind-camera and decision-making roles, disabled stories are told by non-disabled people -- or not told at all. Making Space intervenes at requirement-setting by partnering with studios and employers before production begins, building disability inclusion into hiring and accommodation processes from the start rather than retrofitting it after the fact.

The platform's approach spans the builder-side pipeline: establishing hiring requirements for disabled talent (requirement-setting), ensuring content is created by and with disabled people (content), designing accessible training curricula and workplaces (design), and developing accessible onboarding and tools for the production environment (development).

Real-world example

In 2024, Making Space partnered with NBC Sports to create a free training course for disabled sports commentators and hosts. The partnership placed the first-ever disabled hosts on NBC's Paralympics broadcast and disabled talent on the Olympics broadcast -- roles that had previously been entirely non-disabled.4 Similarly, a 2023 partnership with Netflix produced a graphic design tutorial for disabled artists using Netflix's own design standards, created by a disabled and women-led team, with potential for temporary contract opportunities at Netflix.5

The company's GitLab Foundation–funded Ascend Program, a 10-month initiative, projected a 123× return on investment by driving $37,200 in increased annual income for 100 individuals.6 Making Space was named to the inaugural Forbes Accessibility 100 list in 2025.7

What care sounds like

• "We partnered with Making Space before pre-production to identify and hire disabled talent for behind-camera roles."
• "All staff completed Disability Confidence Training before the first day of shooting."
• "We built accessible onboarding, remote work options, and clear accommodation processes into every department."

What neglect sounds like

• "We'll add disability representation in post -- maybe in the marketing."
• "We don't know where to find qualified disabled talent."
• "Accommodations are handled case-by-case after someone is hired, if they ask."

What compensation sounds like

• "I trained myself on the software because the employer's training platform wasn't compatible with my screen reader."
• "I didn't disclose my disability during hiring because I didn't trust the company to accommodate me."
• "I'm the only disabled person on set and I had to negotiate my own accommodations with no HR support."

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