Seneca Polytechnic

North of the city, an Indigenous walking trail is opening its doors.

The Path to Re- Reconciliation wraps around a lake on Seneca Polytechnic's King Campus, emblazoned with signature, signage and art that teaches the Anishinaabe clan system, as well as an importance of water and connection to nature.

It also includes calls to action for truth and reconciliation.

To reconcile means to make right, said Blue Waters, a Cree, Menas, and Mimic elder who works at Seneca.

You go to Colgate, you get an, a degree in education.

I, I don't know at that stage how much of a, of a coaching career was top of mind, but you, you start out at Seneca College.

Again, I think anybody starting out, there's, there's so much to learn.

What were maybe some of the things that you figured out quickly that allowed you to gain some traction?

And then, of course, we saw on March of this year, which is 2026, Air Canada Express Flight 8646, which was a CRJ that hit that fire truck in New York's LaGuardia Airport, where both pilots died.

This was Captain Antoine Forrest, a 30-year-old from Cote du Lac, And First Officer Mackenzie Gunter, a 24-year-old, Ottawa, Ontario, graduated from Seneca College's Honors Bachelor of Aviation Technology program in 2023.

Both of these pilots died.

And you can see this and say, well, runway incursions was on the top of the list.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the What Works podcast.

I'm Julia Burson, Director of Research at the Josh Burson Company, and today's episode highlights a story from one of our 2026 HR Pacesetter Award winners, Seneca Polytechnic.

Seneca Polytechnic is a public college based in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, offering a wide range of career-focused programs.

This conversation is with Diana Mohan, Executive Director of Transformation and Change at Seneca.

Diana is a transformation specialist and trusted advisor specializing in over a decade of organizational strategy, AI adoption, and the future of work with a career spanning Deloitte, Carney, and executive leadership roles.

And congratulations again to you and your team on the recent HR Pacesetter Award.

I'm so excited to dive into your HR transformation story today.

But before we do that, just to kick us off, can you share maybe a little bit more about the HR team at Seneca Polytechnic and specifically what your transformation team works on?