#SenecaProud Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
In this episode we revisit all of our conversations this season, and explore how it was that our alumni could use Seneca as such a powerful launchpad to their successful careers.  How is it that a single conversation in a classroom can inspire a student to change the direction of their life; or find the courage to enroll in a program that speaks to a dream that had previously lay dormant?  What kind of place can have such an impact on our lives?
In revisiting conversations with Seneca alumni, as well as Seneca professors, and leaders, we uncover some of the components that make Seneca Polytechnic such a place, and we also take a look at how Seneca's future will help shape the economy of tomorrow.
Until Next Season
I’d like to thank everyone associated with the show this season:
Seneca College for sponsoring this podcast, in particular Corey Long, Ryan Flanagan, and Constance Adams,  for all of your help and this season.  Courtney Rheume for her help in editing many of the episodes.  And most of all, thank you for listening.  Until next season, Stay Proud Seneca. This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, and Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening this season.
Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
Welcome to episode 8, Season 5 of #SenecaProud Podcast!
Question:  What do you do with the clothes you no longer wear?  If you're like me, you try to donate them when you can, but what if they're tattered?  For me, I probably throw them into the garbage, which of course goes straight to the landfill.  Turns out, textile waste is a big problem, both globally, and in Canada as well.   Here are some statistics, courtesy of Earth.org:
92 Million Tonnes of Textiles Waste is Produced Every Year - which is the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes ending up in a landfill site every second. The number of times a garment is worn is now between 7 to 10 times before it is discarded. To produce 1 kg of cotton requires 20,000 litres of water, and producing a single t-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water. Clearly this is a serious problem, and our guest in today's show is not only a Seneca Professor, she is also one of Canada's formost experts on the topic, Dr. Sabine Weber.  In this show we talk about her Dumpster Study, funded by Seneca's Applied Research Fund.  And....
In this episode we also learn:
How serious the problem is in Canada The opportunity for entrepreneurs to solve the supply chain challenges, so that garmets can be recycled more easily What we can do to help reduce our textile waste So much more! About our Guest, Dr. Sabine Weber
Sabine Weber has been teaching at Seneca Polytechnic since 2016, in the school of fashion, where she teaches in all three fashion programs: Fashion Business & Fashion Business Management, Fashion Arts and Fashion Studies.  Prior to coming to Canada, Sabine began her career in Germany and later in Switzerland, where as a fasion buyer she oversaw a purchasing budget of over $250 million per year.  Currently, Sabine’s research topics are sustainable fashion, textile waste, and social innovation. Sabine’s main interest is how social innovation can help to transition the fashion industry towards sustainability. Her particular focus is textile waste and a circular fashion system. And along with her students, she completed what became known as the Dumpster Dive study, which was funded by Seneca’s Applied Research Fund. We touch on that study in our conversation.  Sabine hold both a Master’s Degree, and a PhD from the University of Waterloo.  This description of Sabine only scratches the surface of Sabine’s accomplishments in the area of textile waste and sustainable fashion.  Suffice it to say, Sabine is one of, if not number one, expert on this topic, in Canada.  And she teaches right here at Seneca! Pretty cool. 
Important Links
Read more on the Dumpster Dive Studey here. To read more about the global issue of textiles, click here to visit Earth.org. This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
#SenecaProud Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening!  
Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
Welcome to episode 7, Season 5 of #SenecaProud Podcast!
Today's episode features Seneca College graduate Colin D'Mello, who is also the Queen's Park Bureau Chief for Global News.  As Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Colin is responsible for gathering and reporting on our provincial leaders, and holding them accountable on our behalf, which often means asking the tough questions.  This episode is a master's class in how determination, positive self-criticism, and focus can combine to transform raw talent into genuine success.
In this episode we also learn:
How to build your career strategically How competition in your field can make you stronger if you pay attention and learn from it. The value of giving back to your community So much more! About our Guest, Colin D'Mello
Colin D’Mello is one of Ontario’s most prominent political journalists. Colin is the Queen’s Park Bureau Chief for Global News.  After graduating from the broadcast journalism program at Seneca College, Colin began his career as a radio reporter in Moncton, New Brunswick before returning to Ontario. He helped launch 1310 News in Ottawa and later reported for 680 News in Toronto. In 2011, Colin moved to television broadcasting, beginning a long run at CTV News where he most recently served as their Queen’s Park Bureau Chief. For the last few years he has also held the role of President of the Queen’s Park Press Gallery, advocating for journalists and helping to manage the relationship between newsrooms in Ontario and the provincial legislature.
In addition to his Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Duties, Colin also currently works as a guest lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University, is married and has two children.
To Contact Colin Directly, DM him on Twitter:
Colin's Twitter Handle: @ColinDMello
This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
#SenecaProud Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening!  
Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
Welcome to episode 6, Season 5 of #SenecaProud Podcast!
In this episode, I speak with three professors who have created a regular, weekly online roundtable that has proven to be something quite special.  Borne out of the need for connection we all felt during the COVID lockdowns, these weekly roundtables have become an opportunity for Seneca Faculty of the Arts to connect, share common experiences as educators, and simply hold space for each other, and for themselves, and as such have become tremendously popular. 
In this episode we learn how the professors manage to do week after week, what they talk about, and how you might want to set up one such forum for your workplace, department, or for whatever group you have in mind.
And fun fact, our guests today are each bronze recipients of the CICan (Colleges and Institutes Canada) Leadership Excellence Award for Faculty as a result of the positive contribution their Roundtables have provided.
 
In this episode we also talk about:
The key difference between a meeting, and a Roundtable (ca you guess?) How ChatGPT is impacting the teaching landscape Best practices to help YOU can start your own weekly online Roundtable Lots more! About our Guests, Erin Dolmage, Mary Trant, Jamie Zeppa, and Erin Dolmage
Erin Dolmage is a Professor in the Seneca @York School of English and Liberal Studies, Faculty of Arts and a Ph.D. Candidate in History at York University in Toronto. She had done extensive work with the Métis in British Columbia, working with Elders and Family History researchers. She co-authored a chapter in the edited collection Contours of a People. She collaborated on “Bodies of Water, Not Bodies of Women: Canadian Media Images of the Idle No More Movement” in Active History. For Seneca Press, alongside her students, she collaborated on A Celebration of Indigenous Culture at Seneca. She was an editorial consultant on the book Two Dead White Men - Duncan Campbell Scott, Jacques Soustelle and the Failure of Indigenous Policy, 2022.  Erin has been co-hosting a weekly roundtable for the Faculty of Arts alongside Mary Trant and Jamie Zeppa and has been acting as the Academic Integrity Chair for Seneca York King since 2022.
Mary Trant has been faculty at Seneca since 1990, and currently teaches General Education courses in the School of English and Liberal Studies at Newnham campus.  Her favourite Gen.Ed. courses to teach are the Psychology of Creativity, the Psychology of Happiness, Group Dynamics, and Brain and Behaviour.
Jamie Zeppa has taught writing and literature at Seneca since 2004. During her time at the college, she worked with colleagues to develop curriculum for the University of Centra Asia. She also helped to develop COM 101, the composition course taken by most Seneca students, and is engaged in a research project assessing the transfer of writing skills from COM to other courses. Before Seneca, she worked as a freelance writer and editor and taught corporate communications. She has written a memoir (Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan) and a novel (Every Time We Say Goodbye), both published by Penguin Random House Canada.
This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
#SenecaProud Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening!  
Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
Welcome to episode 5, Season 5 of #SenecaProud Podcast!
I have a question for you.  Have you ever been set on a life-plan, and then something happens outside of your control, or maybe someone whispers something in your ear, which causes you to fully reconsider your plan, and pivot to a different life direction?  What do you do?  Do you decide to take the risk, and pivot to that new direction?  Or do you cling to your original plan that doesn’t make as much sense as it once might have?
In this episode we meet Seneca Alumnus and CEO of Wincon Security, Winston Stewart, who was faced with that question 30 years ago and decided to take the risk and follow the new direction.  The result was the creation of Wincon Security, which has grown into one of Canada's most successful privately owned security companies.
In this episode we also talk about:
The keys to running and growing a successful business. The importance of seizing the moment, and going for it. The role Seneca College played in Winston's direction in life. Lots more! About our Guest, Winston Stewart
Winston Stewart has over 30 years of experience in the security industry.  While a still a student of Seneca College in their police services program, Winston recognized the rising need for security in the private sector, and the opportunities in private policing, and launched Wincon Security in 1992 at the suggestion of his professor at Seneca College.   Starting, the way many start-ups do, with a single client who believed in him, and a single employee, Wincon Security is now a multimillion-dollar organization, employing over 250 people with over 100 clients.
The Wincon Vision is to make security a worry-free experience, one that enables their clients to focus on what matters most: their organization’s growth and success. Winston has created a nurturing workplace culture driven by their employees’ insights and ideas, where engagement and long-term client partnerships set us apart from the competition.  And it all began at Seneca College.  Winston is a proponent of equity and diversity and is committed to creating policies, strategic plans, and programs that contribute to our multicultural society.
Important Links and Contact Information
Click here to connect to Wincon Security This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
#SenecaProud Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening!  
Pat Perdue

About Today's Show
Welcome to episode 4 Season 5 of #SenecaProud Podcast!
In this episode our guest, Neil Hetherington, Seneca graduate, and CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank, talks about how each of us can take steps to help end food insecurity in Toronto, and across Canada.   
In this episode Neil shares his journey from student at Seneca College, to the youngest CEO in the history of Habitat for Humanity in Toronto and New York, and then to his role as CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank.
In this episode we also talk about:
How the need for food banks in general has increased dramatically in Canada, and specifically in Toronto The key steps each of us can take to help end food insecurity in Toronto: Sending an email to any elected official asking them to implement their poverty reduction strategy.   Dropping food off at any Fire Station in the city of Toronto.  The Daily Bread Food Bank will come an pick it up for distribution. Helping out as a volunteer at the Daily Bread Food Bank. Becoming more aware of the root causes of food insecurity by listening to the Daily Bread Food Bank's podcast, called the 2030 Project, which you can find here Neil also shares how his experience as a student of Seneca College helped shape his journey as a leader in the the not-for-profit sector, and how being rewarded by mission, rather than money, has shaped his career. 
About our Guest, Neil Hetherington
Neil Hetherington is the CEO of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank.  Previously he was the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Toronto and New York City for 16 years.  He holds degrees or certificates from Huron University, Seneca College, Harvard Business School and the University of Virginia - Darden Business School and his MBA from UWO Ivey Business School. 
Neil was named one of Canada's Top 40 under 40 in 2005. He has received the distinguished alumni of the year awards from each of Huron University, Royal Saint George's College, Western University and Seneca College. He was awarded Queen Elizabeth's Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals in 2002 and 2012. In 2018 he was awarded the Premiers Award for Outstanding Ontario College graduates for excellence in business.
Important Links and Contact Information
Click here for the Daily Bread Food Bank Click here for their podcast, the 2030 Project Click here for the email address of your local Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament for your email asking about their poverty reduction strategy. Click here to find your Member of Parliament at the federal level. This Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
#SenecaProud Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, which means it's available pretty much wherever you get your podcasts. 
 Click here to subscribe.
While you're there, please give us a rating and leave a comment.  It really helps get our podcast found.
Thanks for listening!  
Pat Perdue