Franklin Templeton Recognizes Employees for Community Service in India and US

Every year since 2007, Franklin Templeton has recognized employees who make extraordinary contributions to their communities with the Harmon E. Burns Award. This year’s winner has made a deep impact in his community in New Delhi, India. The company also honored finalists in Hyderabad, India and Baltimore, MD for their community service efforts.

The award is named after long-time employee Harmon Burns, who worked for the company from 1973 to 2006, holding a number of positions at its Northern California headquarters, including head of legal and compliance, chief operating officer, vice chairman and member of the Board of Directors. He was a generous contributor to his local community, constantly giving to those in need. For example, he anonymously donated bulletproof vests to his local police station, gave away unused tickets to San Francisco Giants’ baseball games to children waiting outside the stadium, and sponsored employees in walk-a-thons and fundraising efforts.

Manmohan Singh Gandhi, senior sales manager in Franklin Templeton’s New Delhi office has won the 2021 Harmon E. Burns Award for his dedication and commitment to helping the less fortunate during the pandemic and improving the lives of marginalized individuals in the New Delhi community.

Manmohan is dedicated to helping the community in many ways, through the company’s Impact Days initiatives and his personal commitments to several nonprofit organizations, including Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya, The Earth Saviours Foundation and Gurudwara Nanaksar.

During the pandemic, Manmohan and his wife, Preeti, provided food to families who had fallen sick and couldn’t cook for themselves. For 10 days, they supplied three meals a day. Manmohan extended help to the parking staff at the New Delhi office to make sure they had what they needed during the pandemic. He was in constant touch with the impacted individuals and extended help through the lockdowns, along with colleagues and friends.

Manmohan is committed to Gurudwara Nanaksar, a Sikh temple in Delhi that is home to over 50 monks. He and Preeti offer their prayers every day, provide food and clean utensils and mop the floors of the gurudwara.

Alongside Manmohan, Franklin Templeton honored two other employees in a virtual awards ceremony earlier this month.

Lakshmi Doddapaneni, department coordinator from Hyderabad, was recognized for her long-time commitment and contributions to the most vulnerable people of the Hyderabad community through a number of inspiring community projects.

Gregg Gorman, international treasurer from Baltimore, was recognized for his volunteer work with people impacted by pediatric cancer, inspired by his son Joe, who died from a rare form of leukemia a day after his 15th birthday.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 165 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company brings extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternatives. With offices in more than 30 countries and approximately 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has over 70 years of investment experience and over US$1.5 trillion in assets under management as of November 30, 2021. For more information, please visit franklinresources.com.