2026 Northeast L.E.A.D.S.
Celebrate the 19th anniversary of FirstService Residential’s Northeast L.E.A.D.S. event a premier gathering designed for sponsors, partners, and colleagues to connect with our exceptional associates. From community and assistant managers to accounting teams, executive directors, and regional directors, this event is your opportunity to engage with the people who drive our success.
Key highlights of the day
- Inspiring opening session: Start the day with a welcome from our President, Michael Mendillo, followed by a keynote from a dynamic motivational speaker at the iconic OceanFirst Bank Center at Monmouth University.
- Vibrant trade show experience: Showcase your brand on the trade show floor, located on the running track, where you’ll have direct access to hundreds of community managers and associates from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
- Exclusive networking opportunities: Enjoy one-on-one interactions during lunch and throughout the day with FirstService Residential associates, industry experts, and leadership teams.
- Memorable closing remarks: Conclude the event with insightful reflections from Michael Mendillo.
Agenda
| 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast and Registration |
| 9:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks and Keynote Presentation |
| 11:00 a.m. | Tradeshow Floor Open |
| 1:00 p.m. | Networking Lunch with Sponsors |
| 2:30 p.m. | Main Stage Sponsor and Closing Remarks |
Michael Mendillo
President
Michael Mendillo is an equity partner with FirstService Residential, the largest residential management company in North America. As president and principal, Michael’s responsibilities include client retention, leadership development, culture building, organizational growth and strategic initiatives. Michael possesses first-hand knowledge of industry and corporate trends and challenges, having directly pitched and closed some of the largest communities in the region.
Michael is responsible for creating associate-centric events aimed at education, development and motivation – L.E.A.D.S. in its 15th year. Through a charismatic personality, a genuine connection with and passion for people, Michael has become a prolific public speaker on such topics as community association management, entrepreneurialism, leadership, vision, corporate culture and the relationship between service and business.
Michael graduated from William Paterson University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and currently sits on the University’s Advisory Board for the College of Business. Michael has taught on community association management at Monmouth University, highlighting industry principles of community association management as a career path. Additionally, he sits on the board of Rutgers Customer Experience Program through Rutgers University Center for Innovation Education
Evy Poumpouras
Former Secret Service Special Agent and Interrogator
For more than 12 years, Evy Poumpouras served as a Secret Service special agent in an action-packed career, where she was responsible for protecting some of the world’s most high-value assets. She was a member of the Presidential Protective Division for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and also safeguarded Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush. Beyond her time in the Secret Service, Poumpouras has built a dynamic career as a widely recognized multimedia journalist, host, and producer. She conducts headline-grabbing interviews and investigates major stories in the media, appearing regularly on “TODAY,” MSNBC, and “Good Morning America” to share her sought-after expertise on national security, law enforcement, and crime.
Currently, Poumpouras serves as NBC’s law enforcement and national security analyst, where she applies her deep expertise to breaking news and high-stakes global issues. Having mastered the arts of communication and psychology throughout her wide-ranging career—from the front lines of presidential protection to the national media stage—she offers unconventional strategies for tackling challenges and living fearlessly.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Poumpouras has been described as “the epitome of a badass” as she brings a welcome edge to talks focused on looking inward to begin the journey to becoming your best self at work and beyond. Her positivity emanates from the stage and through to the audience as she reveals hard-won lessons on building a more confident and resilient mindset, communicating for maximum impact, and unleashing your inner fighter as you push past the obstacles on the path to success. Poumpouras shares thrilling anecdotes from her experiences in the Secret Service, offering a rare behind-the-curtain look at one of the oldest and elite security forces in the world, and showing audiences how they can apply Secret Service principles of communication, leadership, psychology, and inclusion in their own pursuits.
In addition to safeguarding our nation’s heads of state, during her tenure in the Secret Service, Poumpouras worked complex criminal investigations, operated undercover, and was an interrogator for the agency’s elite polygraph unit specially trained in the art of lie detection, human behavior, and cognitive influence. She was among the first responders during the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and was honored with United States Secret Service Valor Award in recognition of her heroic efforts. In parallel to her work as a journalist and TV personality, Poumpouras is an adjunct professor for The City University of New York, where she teaches criminal justice and criminology.
Poumpouras’ online interviews and her TEDx talk on “Words: Your Most Powerful Weapon” have drawn millions of views, and she has spoken worldwide in front of many of the world’s top organizations, including NASDAQ, McKesson, United Technologies, Wells Fargo, and Corcoran Group. She is also the author of the bestselling bookBecoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, Live Fearlessly, in which she introduces unique and actionable strategies for influencing any situation and transforming yourself into a stronger, more confident, and more powerful person.
