Keely Cat-Wells

Updated March 2026

Disabled people are often excluded from the workplace

Disabled people experience nearly double the unemployment rate of their non-disabled peers. In the United States, fewer than 23% of people with disabilities are employed, compared with 65.5% of people without disabilities.

Beyond systemic barriers, bias and training gaps, this disparity is compounded by sociopolitical factors. In the U.S., access to government-subsidized benefits such as healthcare is often tied to income and employment status. As a result, some disabled people fear losing essential health coverage if they enter the workforce, trapping them in a cycle of economic insecurity.

Meanwhile, employers face critical labor shortages. While some recognize the untapped talent pool that the disability community represents, most lack scalable, affordable solutions that enable them to hire with confidence. 

After experiencing disability discrimination firsthand, Keely Cat-Wells saw the cost of a system that excludes disabled jobseekers while depriving employers of their talent. Determined to change it, she set out to build a solution.

A holistic solution that empowers both disabled employees and employers

First, Keely built a talent agency representing disabled artists. After placing hundreds of disabled creatives in mainstream media roles, this agency was acquired. In her next venture, Keely wanted to go further. Informed by what she had learned so far, she saw the opportunity to leverage technology and support disabled workers and their prospective employers more comprehensively — bridging education, employment and lived experience to meet both the equity gap and the business need.

In 2023, she launched the Making Space platform. Based in California, Making Space is a global talent acquisition and learning platform. It tackles unemployment among disabled workers by offering free, accessible and employer-supported education tailored to industry requirements, while giving employers streamlined access to skilled, driven candidates who may have otherwise been overlooked. 

Making Space has developed an online library of self-service, skill-based education, covering topics including soft skills, technical skills and self-advocacy. In addition, its flagship career development program, Ascend, runs every six months. This structured initiative is open to 100 disabled professionals at a time and provides in-depth, wraparound services and support.

The platform also leverages artificial intelligence to reframe candidates’ lived experience as job-ready skills. Once users upload their profile information, a chatbot reviews and begins a conversation with them based on the social model of disability. For example, someone with a complex chronic illness might be asked about how they coordinate their medications. The chatbot maps their answers to employment experience such as project management or operations coordination and guides on how to position the comparison to a hiring manager. Once complete, their jobseeker profile is available for prospective employers to view, and they can apply for roles advertised on the platform.

However, what sets Making Space apart is its holistic approach. It goes beyond educating disabled people to address the structural barriers within companies that often prevent eligible candidates from being hired. Its specialist employer training, undergone by all the businesses who source candidates through the Making Space platform, is designed to equip hiring teams with the education and tools they need to confidently support all current and future employees, including disabled people.

Building a brighter future for disabled professionals

To date, Making Space has supported more than 10,000 disabled professionals and placed hundreds into careers, while boosting Ascend program participants’ projected lifetime earnings by more than $1.1 million USD each. Beyond the numbers, the impact is deeply personal — 90% of learners report a renewed sense of self-worth as they prepare to enter or re-enter the workforce. On the employer side, Making Space has secured partnerships across industries, including household names such as Netflix, Visa, Coca-Cola, Red Bull and Salesforce.

Built by and for disabled talent, the business practices what it preaches — team members have either lived experience of disability, or are caregivers for a disabled partner or family member.