On The Town:

Burbank Assistant City Manager Mike Flad said Sunder Ramani was the first person to come to mind when recently asked to think of the one person he would want in our community.

Tony Tartaglia, who serves as a member of the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees, said Ramani could be summed up in one word — “friend.” And Kenneth Nielsen, president of Woodbury University, lauded him as a role model for anyone who commits themselves to making Burbank the best place to live and work in Southern California.

Say the name Sunder Ramani to anyone who has been associated with the Burbank community over the past two decades, and the response would be similar to those accolades.

Ramani was honored Sunday as the recipient of the 2007 Woodbury University Movers and Shapers Award, which for the past six years has recognized individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the Burbank community.

“This award is for people who have made Burbank a better place to live,” Nielsen said. “Sunder has moved Burbank forward and shaped our citizens and institutions in positive ways by giving his time to the institutions that play an important role in the daily lives of Burbank citizens.”

Ramani serves on the executive board of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, the Burbank YMCA Community Foundation Board, and is an active member of the Burbank Rotary Club. In the past, he has served as a member of the Burbank Mayor’s Economic Roundtable as well as the city’s workers’ comp task force. He has worked with local area chambers of commerce and the California Small Business Assn. on workers’ compensation reform, and has served on the National Federation of Independent Business Summit Board in Washington, D.C.

He has served as chairman of Burbank’s Run for the Hungry; was past president of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce and the Sunrise Rotary Club; and has been a board member for the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Foundation, Colony Theatre, the Character and Ethics Project, La Cañada Educational Foundation and Associated Builders and Contractors. He has also been a dedicated volunteer for local organizations such as the Verdugo Hills Boys Scouts, March of Dimes and New Horizons Center of Glendale.