April 29, 2020 – PITTSBURGH – Last week Luke Skurman, CEO and Founder of Niche, announced company-wide via video conference (due to COVID-19) that Francisco D’Souza would be joining the board of directors.
“On joining the board at Niche, Frank said: “The opportunity to join the board resonates with me at a deeply personal level. I have two kids who are going to be thinking about going to college in the coming years and I am excited to work on something that will have an impact on our own journey and positively impact millions of people.”
Born in Kenya and the son of an Indian diplomat, Francisco holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Macau and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. In 1994, he co-founded Cognizant, a company that was ranked 195 on the Fortune 500. As CEO, he led revenue growth from $1.4 billion in 2006 to $16.1 billion in 2018.
As a leader at Niche, Luke consistently talks about the importance of forging strong relationships with the right people: people invested in your vision, people whose very presence inspires you to do your best work.
Francisco D’Souza is one of those people.
Where did you meet Frank?
Frank and I both joined the Carnegie Mellon Board of Trustees in the same year – 2008.
Before joining the CMU Board, when the company was in its early days – I remember hearing him speak at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon and found him incredibly articulate and impressive.
What piqued Frank’s interest in Niche?
We had built a personal connection over time.
Just a few months after stepping down as CEO of Cognizant, he told me that he wanted to devote more of his time to shaping the future of education in the US and around the world.
As the leading platform for school and college search, we’re in a position to change the way students choose their education and how schools engage with prospective students.
What do you admire most about Frank? (Personal and Business)
Frank has no ego or pretense. He is a very humble person even with his success of scaling a company from an idea to one with hundreds of thousands of employees all over the world that is worth tens of billions of dollars.
What strengths does Frank bring to the board?
Frank is great at breaking down extremely complex problems and communicating his ideas on how to tackle them. Frank will bring a deep balance of tactical efforts all the way to vision.
What are some specific areas that you see Frank pushing Niche forward?
I think he will be particularly strong in making sure we understand the competitive landscape, where we can win, and where we want to play.
Niche is the site that gives you the information you need to choose the perfect school, college or neighborhood for you. We provide facts, ratings and user reviews about what it’s really like to attend a given school or college, or live in a specific city, town or neighborhood. Niche helps find where you belong. To learn more visit: www.niche.com