00 — Overview
Making Space
for Disabled
talent & customers.
The end-to-end disability economic mobility platform. We connect Neurodivergent, Chronically Ill, and Disabled professionals with meaningful careers, free education, and community — while equipping employers to hire inclusively and build workplaces that work better for everybody.
Disabled professionals supported
Increase in self-ID rates
Manager confidence increase
Lifetime economic impact
Trusted by
01 — The Problem
The largest minority in the world is still locked out of work.
More than 1.3 billion people live with a disability. Most want to work. The systems that determine hiring, promotion, and culture were not built with them in mind — and the cost, to people and to companies, is measured in trillions.
adults globally have a disability — 1.3 billion people, yet most companies report only 4–7%.
WHO · BCG
Disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed and to live in poverty — yet millions want to work.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics
surge in disability-related discrimination claims in the US over the last five years.
US EEOC
Disability inclusion drives 28% higher revenue, 2× net income, and 30% higher profit margins. Sustainable change requires coordination across hiring, learning, and culture.
02 — The Platform
One end-to-end system.
Hiring, learning, speaking, and consulting — designed to work together so progress compounds across your organization.
— 01
Inclusive hiring & talent access
Hire from a global network of skilled Disabled professionals. Automated job scraping, ATS integrations, targeted role campaigns, and AI-powered job matching that translates lived experience into transferable skills.
- → ATS integrations (Greenhouse, Workday, Lever)
- → AI job-matching trained on lived experience
- → Targeted role campaigns to a 50K+ candidate pool
- → Automated job scraping & syndication
— 02
Disabled-led learning
A library of self-paced disability awareness courses backed by measurable data on participation, impact, and performance improvement — all built in-house.
- → 8+ self-paced courses, 30–45 min each
- → Custom modules tailored to your industry
- → Manager dashboards with completion & impact data
- → SCORM-ready for any LMS
— 03
Live speaking & workshops
Disabled-led keynotes, workshops, and facilitated discussions — customized to your audience and delivered virtually or in-person.
- → Keynotes & fireside chats
- → Manager & ERG workshops
- → Facilitated leadership roundtables
- → Virtual or in-person, fully accessible
— 04
Specialized consulting
Project-based consulting to operationalize accessibility — audits, inclusive marketing, ERG governance, and an expert marketplace of vetted SMEs.
- → Physical & digital accessibility audits
- → Inclusive marketing & comms review
- → ERG strategy and governance
- → Expert marketplace of vetted Disabled SMEs
Making Space
- + Designed by, not just for, Disabled people
- + Integrated hiring, learning & consulting
- + Built for accessibility, scale & measurement
- + 50,000-strong global community
- + Ongoing outcomes measurement
Traditional Approaches
- − Compliance & awareness only
- − Role-by-role sourcing
- − Generalized content
- − Limited scalability & reach
- − Activity without sustained impact
03 — Course Library
Disabled-led courses, built in-house.
All courses are developed in-house and can be tailored — with launches ranging from pilots to company-wide rollouts.
Showing 8 of 8
- — 0145 min
Disability Inclusive Hiring
Practical tools to recruit, interview, and retain Disabled talent — building inclusive systems that strengthen teams.
Hiring - — 0245 min
Neurodivergence in the Workplace
Strategies to understand, support, and empower neurodivergent employees so teams collaborate more effectively.
Awareness - — 0330 min
Being an Ally to the Disabled Community
Inclusive language, common missteps, and concrete actions toward a more confident workforce.
Awareness - — 0430 min
Planning Accessible Events
Design inclusive events from the start, ensuring every guest can participate fully.
Events - — 0545 min
Understanding Disability, Awareness & Action
Foundational understanding of disability, exclusion, and accessibility — and how to put it into action.
Awareness - — 0630 min
Hidden Disabilities in the Workplace
Support employees with non-visible disabilities through stigma reduction and clearer communication.
Hidden disabilities - — 0730 min
The Essentials of Leadership & Management
Leadership as a daily practice, designed with Disabled professionals in mind.
Leadership - — 0845 min
Strategic Thinking in Action
Tools for Disabled professionals to ask better questions, set direction, and make clear decisions.
Leadership
04 — ASCEND FELLOWSHIP
Accelerating economic opportunity.
A 12-month workforce mobility initiative supporting two 6-month cohorts — combining accessible education, career preparation, mentorship, and employer engagement.
Lifetime economic impact
Disabled professionals supported
Employer confidence increase
Social return on investment
— 01
Early Career Track
For Disabled individuals entering the workforce or returning after disruption.
- → Leveraging lived experience
- → Job search & interview prep
- → Financial empowerment tools
- → Networking & social capital
- → Accommodations & disclosure
— 02
Mid-Career Track
For experienced Disabled professionals who are underemployed or overlooked for advancement.
- → Career mobility
- → Leadership strategy
- → Communicating impact
- → Preparing for promotion
- → Rebuilding momentum
For employers — three ways to participate.
Each cohort includes a small group of employer partners who help shape career readiness and visibility for Disabled professionals.
- No cost
- Access to emerging talent
- Inclusive hiring insights
— 01
Live employer sessions
60–90 min · virtual
Host a virtual session introducing your organization, workplace culture, and hiring practices. Participants get insight into different industries; you build visibility with a pipeline of skilled Disabled talent.
— 02
Resume reviews
2–4 hrs · async
Volunteers provide written feedback on participant resumes — helping translate lived experience and non-linear career paths into language that resonates with hiring teams.
— 03
1:1 mentorship
~1 hr / month · 6 months
Match with a Fellow for the duration of a cohort. Provide industry insight, career guidance, and leadership advice — and gain a direct line into the lived realities of Disabled professionals.
What employers gain
- → Early access to vetted Disabled talent
- → Manager confidence in inclusive hiring
- → Real-time feedback from Disabled professionals
- → Brand visibility as an inclusion leader
What Fellows gain
- → Direct exposure to hiring teams
- → Resume translation & coaching
- → Industry mentorship over 6 months
- → Pathways into sustainable employment
Outcome
- → 100% of partner employers report increased confidence
- → Multiple direct hires across past cohorts
- → $220M projected lifetime economic impact
Past Ascend partners
Indeed · VISA · Red Bull · Salesforce · Shutterstock
05 — Museums & Culture
Disability-inclusive museum experiences.
Across visitors, workforce, and storytelling — we help museums, galleries, and cultural institutions design experiences that work better for everybody. Disabled-led, human-centered, and built for sustainable change.
people globally have a disability — more than 1 in 6 adults.
WHO
of all purchasing decisions are influenced by Disabled people and their networks.
Return on Disability
of Disabled adults visit museums or galleries — vs. 21% of all adults.
National Endowment for the Arts
of consumers prefer brands that actively include and represent Disabled people.
American Marketing Association
How we partner with you
— 01
Training & talent access
- → Live, Disabled-led workshops on visitor interaction, sensory support, and access protocols
- → Self-paced courses on hiring, customer service, and disability awareness
- → Role-specific training for hiring managers, HR, frontline staff, and leadership
- → Talent sourcing from a 50K+ network of Disabled professionals
— 02
Physical space & experience
- → On-site accessibility audits led by pan-Disabled, intersectional teams
- → Recommendations across seating, queuing, sensory spaces, and wayfinding
- → Visitor input on navigation and gallery experience
- → Innovation Council — a standing advisory group to sustain accountability
— 03
Digital accessibility
- → WCAG 2.2 AAA audits of websites, ticketing, and exhibit UX/UI
- → Disabled user testing with real assistive tech
- → Live audio description integrations (Be My Eyes, Meta Glasses)
- → Engineer-to-engineer remediation support
— 04
Marketing & brand
- → Disability-inclusive comms and storytelling strategy
- → Authentic representation across campaigns and editorial
- → Inclusive language and image guidance for marketing teams
- → Brand reputation positioning around access leadership
Five-stage methodology
- — 01Discovery & benchmarking
- — 02Co-design — audits & focus groups
- — 03Strategy & prioritization
- — 04Implementation roadmap
- — 05Knowledge transfer
Maturity model
We benchmark where you are today across five stages — from Informal awareness to Optimal — and map the path forward.
How we’re different
Not a traditional accessibility consultancy.
Most institutions come to us after an ADA or compliance consultant has already been involved. ADA consultants tell you what the law requires; we start where compliance ends — embedding lived experience, Disabled-led co-design, and cultural change across your visitors, workforce, and storytelling. The result isn’t a checklist closed out, it’s an institution that works better for everybody.
— Genuinely accessible · Innovation-led
Designed for everybody. Built ahead of the curve.
- → Co-designed with Disabled people
- → Integrated into the core experience
- → Better for parents, elders, tourists — everyone
- → A capability, not a checkbox
— Live example · The Broad, Los Angeles
12 months in
~10% → 96%
Staff confidence supporting Disabled guests
- → “I-statement” ticketing — a Broad-first that lets visitors self-identify needs without disclosing a diagnosis.
- → Expansion drawings reviewed pre-construction — ramps, circulation, and tactile flooring designed in, not retrofitted.
- → Innovation Council — cross-disability lived expertise wired into long-term governance, not a one-off audit.
- → 15+ access programs launched in year one — from tactile tours to ASL-led openings, each co-designed with Disabled creatives.
- → 3× increase in Disabled visitor return rate — measured against pre-program baseline.
— Where innovation lives
AI + assistive tech
Live audio description via Be My Eyes & Meta Glasses, AI job-match across a 50K+ Disabled talent network.
Co-design at scale
Innovation Councils that turn Disabled lived experience into product, space, and policy decisions.
New standards
Industry-firsts — from the first wheelchair user in space to venue access standards now replicated globally.
The curb cut effect
Curb cuts were fought for by wheelchair users — now they’re used by parents with strollers, travellers with luggage, delivery workers, kids on scooters, and elders with canes. Designing for Disabled people lifts everybody. That’s the standard we hold every project to.
ACCESSIBILITY IS THE ORIGIN OF INNOVATION.
06 — Case Studies
Real outcomes across media, tech & live events.
Our work is rooted in lived experience and informed by rigorous frameworks — anchored by our Accessibility Maturity Model and the Social Model of Disability.
Showing 12 of 12
— 01
+ Open− CloseMuseums
The Broad
Objective
Create a museum experience that is truly accessible — physical and digital — reflecting equity, innovation, and community engagement.What we did
- → In-person training + role-specific online courses
- → On-site accessibility audit & report
- → Expansion review & inclusive design consultation
- → Digital accessibility audit
- → Innovation Council formation
Outcomes
- ✓ Staff confidence supporting Disabled guests rose from ~10% to 96%
- ✓ Embedded accessibility into future expansion plans
— 02
+ Open− CloseEnterprise
Salesforce
Objective
Equip Salesforce people managers with practical, disability-inclusive leadership training that builds confidence and consistency globally.What we did
- → Self-paced curriculum on Trailhead, delivered 2 months early
- → Rolled out to 76,000 employees globally
- → Five core modules: 101, accommodations, hiring, onboarding, retention
Outcomes
- ✓ Some of the highest course satisfaction scores Salesforce had recorded
- ✓ Disability embedded as a core leadership capability
— 03
+ Open− CloseAerospace
Blue Origin
Objective
Shape the future of accessible travel across aviation and commercial space.What we did
- → First-ever accessibility workshop for the airline + space industries
- → Brought together leaders across aviation, space, and disability inclusion
- → Addressed cabin access, lavatories, and future commercial design
Outcomes
- ✓ The first-ever wheelchair user went to space
- ✓ Established accessibility as a foundational design principle
— 04
+ Open− CloseGlobal Brand
Red Bull
Objective
Embed disability inclusion across Red Bull's workplace and talent ecosystem.What we did
- → Built disability confidence across recruiters and hiring managers
- → Modernized accommodations practices
- → Audited physical and digital workplaces
— 05
+ Open− CloseChildren's Media
Sesame Street
Objective
Build inclusive media environments that reflect Disabled children — without altering a historic, protected set.What we did
- → Co-created content and accessibility toolkits for writers
- → Insight on character development, language, and representation
Outcomes
- ✓ Expanded character development and storylines
- ✓ Increased accessibility of supporting resources
— 06
+ Open− CloseLive Broadcast
NBC Paris Olympics & Paralympics
Objective
Increase representation and accessibility within Olympic and Paralympic coverage.What we did
- → Inclusive hiring across a massive operation
- → On-site and on-air accessibility practices
Outcomes
- ✓ A record number of Disabled professionals hired on an Olympic broadcast
- ✓ 97% increase in confidence among producers and hiring managers
— 07
+ Open− CloseFilm & TV
Champions (Film)
Objective
Equip the cast — including 12 Disabled actors — to confidently represent the film during press.What we did
- → Tailored media and press training for 12 Disabled cast members
- → 1:1 coaching for Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, and Cheech Marin
Outcomes
- ✓ Press coverage shifted toward dignity and accurate representation
— 08
+ Open− CloseFilm & TV
Netflix: Lady Chatterley's Lover
Objective
Embed disability inclusion in front of and behind the camera on a major Netflix production.What we did
- → Accessible travel and on-set coordination
- → Access audits on newly built sets
- → Hired Disabled talent across all roles, not just disability-specific ones
— 09
+ Open− CloseLive Events
Cannes Lions
Objective
Elevate the accessibility of one of the world's premier festivals.What we did
- → Pan-Disabled site audits
- → Sourced sign-language interpreters and captioning
- → Designed physical accessibility interventions across the venue
Outcomes
- ✓ New venue access standards replicated at other events
— 10
+ Open− CloseExperiential
Monopoly Lifesize
Objective
Make a new puzzle / escape-room experience accessible for pan-Disabled guests.What we did
- → Scenario-based Disability Confidence training for staff
- → Pan-Disabled site audits
Outcomes
- ✓ Measurable increase in customer satisfaction among Deaf, Disabled, and Neurodivergent guests
— 11
+ Open− CloseImmersive
Angel VR
Objective
Make a virtual reality experience accessible without compromising artistic intimacy.What we did
- → Integrated audio description, captions, high-contrast color, and haptics
- → Advised on sensory considerations for Neurodivergent guests
— 12
+ Open− CloseLive Events
BFI London Film Festival Expanded
Objective
Elevate accessibility of one of the world's premier film festivals across its new AR / XR / VR arm.What we did
- → Pan-Disabled site audits across screening, red carpet, and exhibit venues
- → Inclusive comms guidance for marketing
07 — The Founder
Keely Cat-Wells.
CEO & Founder
Entrepreneur and Disability rights advocate. After acquiring a disability at 17 and facing discrimination in the creative industry, Keely founded C Talent — the leading agency representing Disabled artists in The Hunger Games, Avatar, and The Last of Us — acquired in 2022 in the largest acquisition of a Disabled-led talent company.
She then founded Making Space to close the disability employment gap, now trusted by Netflix, NBC, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Salesforce. Its flagship Ascend program has generated over $220M in projected lifetime economic impact. Keely is also co-producer of Fight to Fly with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, a Forbes Contributor, and a Disability subject matter expert to leaders from President Biden to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
- L'Oréal Women of Worth
- Forbes 30 Under 30
- Diana Award
- Cartier Fellow
- Obama Leader USA
- Presidential Leadership Scholar
- One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year
08 — Our Approach
Human-centered. Systems-level.
We integrate intersectionality, universal design, and real-world implementation across physical, digital, and cultural environments. At the core of our methodology is our Accessibility Maturity Model and the Social Model of Disability.
- — 01
Co-design with communities
Lived experience shapes every product, course, and engagement.
- — 02
Beyond compliance
Practical strategies that go far past the bare legal floor.
- — 03
Capacity building
Onboarding and continuous knowledge transfer so changes stick.
- — 04
Strategic integration
Embedded across marketing, HR, infrastructure, and digital ops.
09 — Contact
Let's make space together.
Whether you're hiring, training, or rebuilding access from the ground up — tell us where you are and we'll meet you there.