Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 76
76
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
Humber Polytechnic enables employee belonging
W
hen Regan Mancini
first entered the
main doors of the
North Campus of
Humber Polytechnic, she says
she felt that it was a place of
possibilities.
“It’s not something I can really
explain, but I can say that it has
proved to be true,” says Mancini,
institutional planning specialist.
“I was quite amazed at what I
saw. One example would be the
Indigenous cultural markers. I
learned what they were and was
really impressed that Humber had
invested in this.”
The cultural markers are sculptures and installations throughout
the campuses that place Humber
in the context of the long history
of Indigenous peoples on the
land. Another favourite example
of Mancini’s is the Humber
Arboretum, a public garden,
conservation area and educational
centre. She says she walks there
every chance she gets.
Mancini also appreciates that
Humber created the Office of
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and
Belonging (EDIB) in December
2023 and brought it into the
same portfolio as its Office of
Sustainability. “They recognize the
linkages between sustainability,
equity and Indigenous education.
I applaud them for that,” she says.
Jennifer O'Brien, vice-president,
people(s), culture and organizational excellence, notes that
embracing and supporting the
unique and diverse experiences
of employees is key to Humber's
overall inclusive employee culture
and experience.
Jason Seright is Humber’s
vice-president, inclusion,
belonging and student experience.
Growing up in Western Canada,
he had no desire to move to big
city Toronto but made the move
when he was approached about
taking this position. “Once I came,
I realized I'm working with some
amazing people,” he says. “And
the fact that they even created this
division, and my position, were
things that told me I'm in the right
place. I feel this is the best move
I've made in my career.”
Belonging and equity are building blocks of Humber’s recently
released strategic vision “Building
Brilliance.”
There are several strategic
initiatives that help contribute to
the overall employee experience
at Humber. These include a
Well-Being Strategy which aims
to embed health and well-being
throughout its campus culture; a
bold commitment to sustainability
which puts Humber on target
to achieve net-zero carbon in
2029; and Humber Polytechnic's
EDIB Action Plan, built on work
started in 2018, was created
through collaborative discussions
with students, staff, faculty and
administrators. The plan outlines
four priorities: inclusive campus
culture and organizational leadership, equitable student success,
EDIB curriculum innovation
and community engagement and
collective action. Each priority
has action items, such as building
on EDIB learning and development materials to deliver EDIB
onboarding, mandatory programs
for employees and creating a
leadership community working
group made up of EDIB thought
leaders.
“When we embrace diversity
and create a sense of
belonging, we provide an
opportunity to learn about
each other, we understand
each other better and there
is empathy and relationshipbuilding.”
— Jason Seright
Vice-President, Inclusion,
Belonging and Student
Experience
Jason Seright, vice-president, inclusion, belonging and student experience (centre) at Humber, attends its
President's BBQ event with colleagues.
“We want all of our employees
to feel that they belong here,”
Seright says. “As an Indigenous
person, and I think for other
under-represented peoples, when
we go into certain places, they are
not always welcoming and so we
don’t stick around. We want our
staff to feel like this is a safe place
for them.”
Seright says that by creating
this kind of space, Humber
gives employees a chance to
