"Leadership is the ability to clearly see both rewards and challenges, and to be willing and able to meet both with energy, persistence and excellence."

Lou Persico has been Datascension’s chief executive officer and chairman of the company's Board of Directors since December 2008. Prior to that from July to December 2008, Persico joined Datascension as a member of the board of directors. He has over two decades of financial and operational experience in private and public corporations.

Before joining Datascension he worked for a series of “Fortune 100 Companies.” Persico’s focus later on in his career has been with venture-backed companies as CFO. Earlier on, Persico served in a variety of international executive capacities with American Cyanamid/Wyeth Pharmaceuticals where he held the roles of controller and finance director for almost 10 years operating on location in Madrid, Spain; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After American Cyanamid, he worked for the Perkin-Elmer Co., Pearle Vision, Technicolor, Sara Lee, Cambridge Technology Partners, and Arthur D. Little as CFO.

Persico earned at Pace University, New York City, a combined BBA/MBA. He graduated from the Executive Programs at the Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School. He is multilingual -- Spanish and Portuguese.