Popular culture, movies and entertainment are powerful vehicles for popularising new ideas and bringing communities with a history of stigma and marginalization into the mainstream and on their terms.

Culture can reflect inequality or be a powerful engine for change. But it is always a vibrant space that helps us frame our realities and imagine the future. It is a space for collective imagination – a vital ingredient for change. 

In this episode, Keely Cat-Wells, a young entrepreneur in media based in California, gives us insights into what's going on in the media and its potential to re-frame disability.

At a very young age, she started C-Talent, an agency dedicated to the placement of disabled talent in movies, entertainment and social media. She wanted to promote not only more presence of people with disabilities on screen, but also to expand their roles - beyond simply representing disability.

For her work, she’s been invited to discuss disability inclusion policies at the White House by US President Joe Biden and at the UN’s Youth Activist Summit in Geneva. She’s become an advisor of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way foundation, and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Diana Award, the Forbes 30 under 30 award, the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year award, the LinkedIn Top Voice.

To read the full transcript of this episode and find out more about Keely Cat-Wells and her work, click here. 

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