Group Representative for Employees with Disabilities
Bertelsmann AG

Mr Knut Weltlich is the Group Representative for Employees with Disabilities at Bertelsmann AG, which is considered the world’s largest media company based in Germany operating in more than 50 countries and counting more than 100,000 employees. Mr Weltlich is a professional sound editor and the inventor of various devices and aids to assist people with disabilities such as the standing wheelchair, which helps wheelchair users reach higher shelves; a light -signalling system that lets deaf employees know when they have received an e-mail; or the shuttle car, which allows a wheelchair user to enter a car through the hatch and roll right up to the steering wheel. One of Mr Weltlich´s most recent and outstanding achievements in 2010 was the creation of “Deaf Space Radio”, a unique radio station for the deaf with live reports on the Internet accompanied by simultaneous translations in sign language. Mr Weltlich recently received international recognition in a best-practice report by the European Commission. In a report on efforts to combat discrimination against people with disabilities, Bertelsmann, along with 27 other companies, presented its initiatives for model workplaces that are accessible to disabled persons. Mr Weltlich has held numerous lectures in various countries on issues related to the integration and inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. In 2006, as one of three delegates from the European business community, Mr Weltlich upon invitation of the US government participated in the first trans-Atlantic exchange of experiences in employing people with disabilities. Mr Weltlich is also the Ambassador of the German Paralympic Committee. In 2009 he was awarded the German TV Media-Award.