Keely Cat-Wells named a 2026 Fellow of the Cartier Women’s Initiative
The Cartier Women's Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the program was founded in 2006. Among the 2026 class, four fellows stand out for the sheer ambition and ingenuity of their work. In the United States, Keely Cat-Wells built Making Space after experiencing disability discrimination firsthand. Her talent acquisition platform connects disabled professionals to employers through accessible, employer-backed training, and has already boosted programme participants’ projected lifetime earnings by more than USD $1.1 million each — with 90% of learners reporting a renewed sense of self-worth in the process.
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Talent acquisition platform Making Space, founded in 2023 by noted disability activist Keely Cat-Wells, announced today that it has closed on an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round led by Beta Boom.
Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine has tied with Making Space Media, the TV and film producer that places disabled voices front and center. The Candle Media-backed outfit has struck a first-look deal with Making Space for unscripted content, which will “shine a light on the lived experience of the world’s largest and yet most overlooked and misrepresented community on the planet.” Several developments are underway and first projects will be announced soon, according to the pair. Making Space Media is a division of Making Space and is run by TV presenter and disability rights advocate Sophie Morgan, and entrepreneur and activist Keely Cat-Wells. Disability in TV has been in the spotlight of late and the likes of His Dark Materials scribe Jack Thorne have slammed the industry’s treatment of the minority over the past couple of years.
I was not believed by the health system, I was dying while they constantly told me I "looked fine." It took dozens of doctors, multiple hospitals, and many years before I was diagnosed and given the life-saving treatment I needed. When I came to the US, it became clear that as a disabled person, as someone who is chronically ill, I am not broken or the issue — it is society that is fragmented, and that it is not just a national problem, it is a global one.
Last year, Cat-Wells sold C Talent to Whalar in a multimillion-dollar deal that marked the largest investment ever in disabled talent within the creator industry. Since then, her focus has been on Making Space, a talent acquisition and learning experience platform for disabled individuals from low income or traditionally underrepresented communities. “When budgets get cut and times get hard, disability-specific programs are the first to be deprioritized,” Cat-Wells explains.
“Hire disabled people, fund disabled people, let disabled people lead and learn from disabled people's lived experience. But also do your own research on disability and learn from the work that has already been done within the disability justice movement,” she said.
Keely Cat-Wells has been a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, an advisory board member on Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and has visited the White House as a participant in the first Mental Health Youth Action Forum. Last year her talent agency, C Talent, was acquired by Whalar in a deal that’s making history as “one of the largest investments ever made in Disabled talent within the creator industry,” according to her profile on RollingStone Culture Council.
Since its inception, C Talent has scaled into a well-known Disabled-led talent management firm which represents high-profile Deaf and Disabled talent—including content creators, actors, directors, and writers. C Talent has successfully negotiated contracts and landed brand deals for talent with mainstream business giants like Savage X Fenty, Hulu, About-Face, Disney, Google, Subaru, Nike, and more.
As relatively easy as it may be for many creators to write a hit song or create a viral video, making money from their work may not be as intuitive. Enter the suits! The best executives—whether as a platform or an agent or manager—step in and step up to help creators maximize profits from their work and grow their audience. This can be specific to a particular cohort of creators: Keely Cat-Wells, founder and president of C Talent at Whalar, for example, works to give disabled creators more opportunities in front of and behind the camera.
Recognition of Cat-Wells' accomplishments includes The Red Backpack Grant from The Sara Blakey Foundation, The Diana Award, corporate sponsorship from American Eagle Outfitters, Forbes 30 Under 30 in Entertainment, and The Comerica Bank Award. What negative mindsets can you change to increase your market?