Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 136
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Innovation and support flow through Seneca Polytechnic
N
atasha Binns has
worked at Seneca
Polytechnic for 16
years, but she’s also a
proud alumna with a
degree in international business
administration. Binns loved her
program so much that, utilizing
Seneca’s pathway to university
credit program, she went on to
graduate from the Telfer School of
Management at the University of
Ottawa. Then, she circled back to
Seneca where she joined as a parttime recruitment officer in 2008.
Now director, events & special
projects, Binns, says her career
journey has been amazing. “My
bosses were always advocating for
me to grow, for my fellow team
members to grow, with opportunities to be on all kinds of projects,”
says Binns. “The trust, belief,
respect and confidence that the
leaders have in employees is one
of the things that has kept me here
for so long.
“At Seneca, there actually is no
ceiling – whatever you want to do,
wherever you want to go, whatever
you want to work on, as long as
you can advocate for yourself, they
will support you.”
Like Binns’, Michael Rotondo's
journey began as a student, when
he enrolled in Seneca's honours
bachelor’s program in aviation
technology in 2013, and has now
come full circle to his current role
as co-chair, School of Aviation.
During his time as a student,
Rotondo did a co-op placement in
research at Seneca, which inspired
him on a more academic path.
After completing a bachelor of interdisciplinary studies at Seneca,
he went on to do a master’s degree
in human factors at Embry- Riddle
Aeronautical University in Florida,
followed by a master of education
at the University of Toronto.
A phone call brought him back
to Seneca, initially as a teaching
assistant, then as a full-time
professor, and later as a program
manager. Seneca also allowed
Rotondo time away to follow his
Natasha Binns, director of events and special projects (left), and Michael Rotondo, co-chair, School of
Aviation, at Seneca Polytechnic (photo credit: Ricardo Bernardino).
other passion, which is military
training, and promoted him to
manager, aviation partnerships &
innovation when he returned.
“At Seneca, there actually
is no ceiling – whatever you
want to do, wherever you
want to go, whatever you
want to work on, as long
as you can advocate for
yourself, they will
support you.”
— Natasha Binns
Director, Events & Special
Projects
“I was at the forefront of bringing in that industry vibe, looking
after our industry partners with
our School of Aviation, so with
the airlines, the airports, and then
eventually taking on innovative
projects like simulation and
virtual reality training for pilots
and operations controllers,” says
Rotondo. “Seneca’s culture is
founded not only on innovation,
which gets people motivated, but
also on collaboration and respect
throughout the organization.”
That kind of collaborative and
supportive environment is crucial
for fostering innovation, Rotondo
explains, as well as respect for
diversity.
“It’s always in collaboration;
everybody understands the goal,”
says Rotondo. “We’re in it for
the students, we want to see our
students succeed. It’s a collective
unit and a united front.”
“When we’re working on
projects or a new initiative, we’re
