Making Space

Companies must shift their focus from just donating to disability to INVESTING in it, Investing in disabled people is investing in the future. Thank you so much Bus Stop Films for trusting me to keynote your historic first-ever Driving Change summit, It was an honour and privilege to be in a room with so many game changers and disability rights advocates who are shaping the future. It was also a pleasure meeting and hearing from Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC?who made it clear that she is dedicated to working with our community, and will continue to advocate for disabled people to get access to meaningful employment. Bus Stop Films I am officially on the bus, and not getting off! An extra special thank you to Tracey Corbin-Matchett OAM, I have so much to learn from your incredible leadership. Making Space #DisabilityRights #MakingSpace

We’re Hiring!!! Making Space is looking for a Product or UI/UX Designer who is comfortable being on camera to host our upcoming Product Design Course with Indeed! This is a course designed by and for Disabled professionals about the ins and outs of Product Design, especially related to consistency and collaboration. Must haves: - Be a UI/UX/Product Designer - Comfortable on camera either memorizing scripts or using teleprompter - Based in the LA Metro area and available to shoot the week of December 9th through the 13th. - Passionate about accessibility and disability inclusion Nice to haves (but not required): - Mid career/senior level - Making Space community member Access Info: - Studio isn’t booked yet so we will do our best to book location based on access needs of talent (wheelchair access etc) - Behind the camera talent can wear face masks at talent’s request Hours/Pay: ~5 hours. Flat rate. Interested? Send an email with your resume and why you’d be a good fit to [email protected] by Dec 2nd. Hashtags: #Hiring #GigAlert #ProductDesigners #UXDesigners #Disability

POV: You read that 71% of business leaders want to hire a candidate with AI skills, (according to Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report). So you pour over job descriptions trying to decipher what “AI skills” actually mean in practice so you can add those skills to your resume. But these job descriptions are SO vague. We have a better way: 1. Read how real people working in product, marketing, and social media management are using AI in practice (down below). 2. Register for our AI Prompt Engineering Course with Indeed (it’s free)! Link: https://lnkd.in/gZT7JFfq . 3. Put AI prompt engineering to practice in a project you’re working on for a freelance role or in a mock project that you can add to your portfolio and speak to in your next interview! Image Description: Slide 1: AI Prompt Engineering. Demystifying the vague “AI skills” requirement on job apps. We asked people in 3 different roles at Making Space how they actually use AI in their role. Making Space + Indeed. A blue background with white text. Slide 2: Hannah Holmgren. Head of Product and Operations. “I view AI as assistive technology. When I have my ideas scattered everywhere, AI helps me organize them. This especially helps with project management. I give AI a summary and high-level goals for a project and prompt it to create a succinct, ordered outline of where to start to ensure the project goals are met.” Purple background with white text on the left side of the graphic. On the right side is a picture of Hannah, a white woman with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Hannah is wearing a navy blue sweatshirt with her hair wavy and down over her shoulders. Her arms are crossed and she is smiling at the camera. Side 3: Jet Gates. Social Media Manager and Graphic Designer. “I love using AI to help me research topics for content in a fraction of the time. For Disability History Month, I used Copilot to find sources for posts and to come up with polls to engage our audience.” Pink background with white text on the left side of the graphic. On the right side of the graphic is a picture of Jet, a white fem person with neon pink buzzcut and piercings, wearing a pink scarf. Slide 4: Noa Porten. Outreach and Community Engagement Manager. “AI helps me with marketing strategy. When setting metrics for a campaign I ask an AI LLM to find me benchmarks for those metrics in our industry so I can set SMART goals. I also ask AI to show me its sources so I can fact check.” Orange background with white text on the left side of the graphic. On the right side is a picture of Noa, a white woman with long brown wavy hair wearing a pink turtleneck top and a gold necklace, smiling at the camera. #AI #OnlineCourses #Accessibility #Productivity

Happy last day of National Disability Employment Awareness Month! Which haunted house are you in ?? ?? ? Image descriptions: Slide 1: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s your employer not allowing remote work as a disability accommodation even though you’ve been working remotely for the last 4 years. Graphics are a blue background with a white ghost in a green hat holding an orange computer with the Making Space logo. Slide 2: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s an entry level job requiring 3 years of experience not including internships and self employment. RIP Dream Jobs. Always in our thoughts and prayers. Graphics are a pink background with a grey tombstone. Slide 3: A haunted house but it’s 40k Disabled worker legally being paid as little as 25￠ an hour in sheltered workshops (1). Graphics are a yellow background with a black cat. Slide 4: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s a fully remote role that requires regular travel yet business travel is still inaccessible (2). Graphics are a white background with black bats. Slide 5: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s the unemployment rate for Disabled people being 2x higher than non-disabled people (3). Graphics are a neon green background with a grey skull. Slide 6: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s needing to work freelance to accommodate your disability but freelancing doesn’t have health insurance. Graphics are a black background with 3 orange pumpkins in the center and cobwebs at the top of the page. Slide 7: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s needing to pay for a professional portfolio for a paying job but you don’t have the money. Graphics are an orange background with a yellow moon in the center. In front of the moon is a witch flying on a broom and bats circling. Slide 8: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s the possibility of reduction in enforcement powers for the ADA under Project 2025 and Trump’s presidency (4). VOTE. Graphics are a dark blue background with a green zombie hand holding a VOTE sign.? Slide 9: Text reads: A haunted house but you need Medicaid to live so your income is capped at $2,742 a month & not allowed more than $2,000 in savings (5). Graphics are a pink background with a white skeleton.? Slide 10: Text reads: A haunted house but it’s 30% of Covid Cases leading to Long Covid (6), and 12% of people with Long Covid facing unemployment (7) but employers are mandating return to office. Graphics are an orange background with a white facemask and 2 hands reaching to grab the mask.?

Today is a milestone day for me. Today marks 1 year since I joined the team at Making Space and I was never been more grateful and excited about working with an organization in my LIFE. I was a product person just kind of existing, feeling like I didn't know where I wanted to grow, and no longer enjoying the things about product that I previously adored. And then I met Keely Cat-Wells. It sounds ridiculous but we hit it off within 5 minutes of meeting. Like we both knew we were always supposed to work together. And this partnership where we laugh and bring our whole selves to the table and call each other out and share our vulnerabilities has only gotten stronger. In any startup of our size, you go through the most absurd ups and downs in the first year. Things you truly didn't think we possible until you were cleaning up the aftermath of either a huge celebration or a disaster. But we've survived, and Making Space is a stronger organization because of it. Here I am, one year on, one new title later, a bigger/better team now than when we started... and I'm just still so grateful, so excited for the future. So cheers to me (because we all deserve our flowers) and cheers to Making Space for everything we've accomplished and cheers to all of you for staying with me/us on this journey. I can't wait for what's next. ??

Upstart Co-Lab announces that our Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy has closed an investment in Making Space, a transformative platform for talent acquisition and learning, dedicated to empowering pre-qualified Disabled talent. Founded by disability rights advocate Keely Cat-Wells, Making Space goes beyond compliance, offering seamless and equitable experiences for Disabled talent. Their commitment to free, job-specific training leads to better outcomes for both employers and job-seekers. By collaborating with media and entertainment industry leaders like NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Amazon Studios, Making Space is reshaping corporate learning through accessible education, paving the way for higher-quality careers. Making Space aligns with Upstart’s impact goals: providing Access to Capital for Diverse Entrepreneurs, supporting Vibrant Communities, creating Quality Jobs, enabling Sustainable Creative Lives, and advancing an Inclusive Creative Economy. Making Space is the 1st direct investment in a company and the 4th investment to date under Upstart’s Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy. #impinv #impactinvesting #socent #creatoreconomy #creativeeconomy #creativity #art

Making Space at Paramount Pictures, It was an honor to speak alongside Pat Harvey-Lombard, TJ Hill and Vanessa Ramos about disability rights, political advocacy, and media representation, especially with the election approaching. Being Disabled is inherently political. Living in an inaccessible world often means we HAVE to be politically involved just to survive. Vote with our rights in mind, because in time, they’ll become yours as well. Disability rights are human rights, and knowing, protecting, and upholding them today ensures a better future for everyone. #DisabilityRights #MakingSpace Image description: Slide 1 - Keely stands under the iconic arched entryway of Paramount Pictures. The Paramount Pictures logo is displayed above the arch, with palm trees and buildings visible in the background. Slide 2 - Pat Harvey-Lombard, TJ Hill, Keely, Joshua Walker and Vanessa Ramos standing on stage. #DisabilityRights #MakingSpace

Meet our latest investor, Upstart Co-Lab, an organization that connects capital to creative people who make a profit and make a difference. We’re so excited to be the first direct investment of Upstart’s Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy. Launched in April with over $15 million committed, Upstart's Strategy is the first impact investing vehicle for the U.S. creative industries. Since 2016, Upstart Co-Lab has mobilized $45 million of grants and impact capital — and built a coalition of foundations, families and cultural institutions investing for impact in art, design, culture, heritage and creativity. With impact goals of financial inclusion, quality jobs, and vibrant communities, we truly feel Upstart Co-Lab is a match made in heaven for Making Space! Image Description: Graphic of a laptop sitting on a wooden table with a blurred background and a MASP logo hanging above the laptop. Text on the laptop screen reads: “we are Making Space with Upstart Co-Lab, New Investment Coming Soon!".

We are Making Space with Aerie by AEO, Inc.! Together, we are spotlighting six Disabled founders & their businesses who have transformed passions into impactful ventures, In 2020, I received an Aerie REAL Changemaker Grant for my first company, a talent agency that represented Disabled artists globally. That grant & visibility through Aerie was the launching pad for that company, After selling the agency, we are now building Making Space, a talent acquisition and learning platform for companies to train, access and retain Disabled talent, and Making Space Media, the media division designed to center Disabled people and their stories. Our goal is to address the disability employment gap and representation for the Disabled community. It has been a dream getting continued support from Aerie and the opportunity to highlight Disabled owned businesses, stay tuned, over the next few days we will be sharing more about the founders and their stories. You can read all about this exciting partnership here: https://lnkd.in/eChYypJM Image description: Collette Divitto, a young woman with Down syndrome, smiling warmly. She has long dark hair with bangs and freckles on her face. The image features text that reads, 'I like to empower my disabled employees.' Logos for Aerie and Making Space are visible in the top corners of the image.

Making Space with…Blue Origin ?? We are EXTREMELY excited to announce that Blue Origin is hosting a film screening of our very own “Sophie Morgan’s: Fight to Fly” documentary (co-produced by Hello Sunshine and Making Space Media followed by a panel discussion, exploring the evolving landscape of accessibility and inclusion in aerospace and spaceflight. Fun fact: Our name, Making Space, was inspired by our mission to “make space” for a wheelchair user on a plane. And our vision is to make space for Disabled people in every sector, at every level. So this is a huge moment for our company, our mission, and hopefully, our community. “l am so excited for these amazing women to share this film, their experiences, and knowledge with the Seattle aerospace and accessibility communities.” - Erin McLean, Senior Experience Designer and Space Systems Development. Thank you so much Todd Mosher, Meg Filer, Erin McLean. You are out of this world! Image description: Sophie Morgan is floating in a zero-gravity environment, smiling and raising one hand. She is wearing a gray jumpsuit with a patch that reads 'Air Zero G.' To the right, a wheelchair is floating in the background. Overlaid text reads 'MAKING SPACE with BLUE ORIGIN.'" #DisabilityRights #MakingSpace #Accessibility #BlueOrigin