GitLab Foundation Awards $500,000 Grant to Making Space to Expand Workforce Pathways and Responsible AI Tools for Disabled Talent

Making Space, the talent acquisition and learning platform focused on closing the disability employment gap, today announced a $500,000 grant from the GitLab Foundation to support the expansion of its Ascend Fellowship and accelerate development of its responsible AI tools designed to improve employment access and long-term economic mobility for Disabled professionals.

The funding will power a hybrid initiative that combines fellowship programming, employer systems change, and national deployment of Making Space’s AI tools, including skill translation, benefits continuity support, and ABLE account navigation.

Disabled people remain twice as likely to be unemployed and twice as likely to live in poverty, driven by systemic barriers such as inaccessible workplaces, hiring discrimination, and the fear of losing critical benefits like Medicaid or housing support. Making Space’s model addresses these barriers in parallel, combining identity-safe community, accessible learning, benefits navigation, and employer readiness.

This grant builds on the success of Making Space’s previous partnership with the GitLab Foundation through the Ascend Fellowship, which demonstrated measurable economic mobility outcomes for Disabled participants. In the first cohort, Ascend generated $111 million in projected lifetime earnings for 100 participants, representing a 123:1 ROI and approximately 5,000 hiring managers trained within partner companies.

With this new investment, Making Space will scale its fellowship while piloting and validating the next generation of its AI tools with participants before deploying them platform-wide. Once launched, the tools and curriculum developed through this grant are expected to reach Disabled adults across the United States, supporting job placement, wage growth, and safe-to-earn pathways that reduce the risks associated with returning to work while receiving benefits.

"Most platforms optimize for placement. Making Space optimizes for staying power, which changes everything for Disabled workers navigating a system too often designed to hold them back,” said Matt Zieger, Chief Programs and Partnerships Officer at GitLab Foundation. “This is about building an employer partnership model that opens up doors, and makes sure they stay open.”

"One key takeaway from Ascend was recognizing that my lived experience as a disabled person is not a limitation in my career, it’s a form of expertise. Over the past year, Making Space brought together disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent professionals through webinars, hands-on assignments exploring accessible and flexible work, impactful 1:1 support and guidance that truly met me where I am. They specialize in building paths that actually fit Disabled peoples lives. What I will carry forward most is the emphasis on peer connection over hierarchy. Some of the most meaningful moments came from learning alongside other disabled professionals and building career paths that actually fit our lives." Said Cat Contillo, Making Space Ascend Fellow

As part of the project, Making Space will also expand its employer-facing work, integrating disability inclusion training into corporate systems, strengthening accessible hiring practices, and increasing the likelihood that Disabled professionals are not only hired, but supported to stay and advance.

The GitLab Foundation’s mission is to improve lifetime earnings through access to opportunity, and its grantmaking focuses on solutions that generate measurable economic mobility outcomes.

“We’re thrilled to have the support of the GitLab Foundation. Disabled professionals represent one of the most talented yet overlooked talent pools in the workforce. They are qualified, capable, and ready for the next generation of work, what needs to change is the system around them. Together, we’re helping employers rethink how they hire, breaking down systemic barriers and unlocking opportunity at scale.” Keely Cat-Wells, CEO & Founder of Making Space

About Making Space

Making Space is a disabled-led talent acquisition and learning platform closing the disability employment gap by combining accessible education, responsible AI, and employer transformation. The platform connects a network of more than 50,000 Disabled people with job-aligned skill building, community, and career pathways. Its flagship workforce development program, Ascend, has supported more than 200 participants and generated over $220M in projected lifetime economic impact. Through its technology, Making Space has also supported employers including Red Bull, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola to build more accessible workplaces and access one of the largest untapped talent pools.

Learn more at: https://www.making-space.com/

About GitLab Foundation

GitLab Foundation is committed to improving lifetime earnings through access to opportunities. Founded in 2022, the Foundation provides innovative organizations with capital and capacity building to help people achieve economic mobility in the United States, Colombia, and Kenya. With an ambitious goal of generating at least $100 in additional lifetime earnings for every $1 invested, GitLab Foundation backs solutions with the real potential to transform lives and unlock opportunity at scale. To date, we estimate our investments will generate more than $34.7 billion in increased lifetime earnings. Learn more at https://www.gitlabfoundation.org/.

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