Matt François, M.S., EMT
Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Matt François sets the strategic direction and executive protection doctrine for François Executive Partners™, ensuring every engagement reflects The FEP Standard™ of precision, discretion, and elite client care. He oversees all principal relationships and maintains direct command over FEP’s highest-tier operations.

Rossella Mercuri, J.D., CIPP/US
General Counsel

Office of the CEO, François Executive Partners®
Legal Governance & Enterprise Risk

Rossella serves as FEP’s General Counsel, providing executive-level legal governance, enterprise risk oversight, and strategic counsel across the firm. Reporting directly to the CEO, she is a member of FEP’s senior leadership structure and advises on matters where legal exposure, operational risk, confidentiality, reputation, and business strategy intersect.

With more than 20 years of legal and business experience, Rossella has advised founders, C-suite executives, family offices, luxury hospitality companies, investment platforms, publicly traded companies, and multinational organizations operating across complex and highly regulated environments. Her experience strengthens FEP’s ability to integrate legal judgment and enterprise risk management into its protective operations.

Before joining FEP, Rossella served as Founder and Fractional General Counsel of OmniLaw Ventures, advising founder-led and growth-stage businesses on governance, commercial contracting, regulatory compliance, employment, privacy, and enterprise risk. She previously served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Vantage Deluxe World Travel and Commonwealth Boston, the private investment family office and parent platform for Vantage Travel.

In that role, she managed legal and compliance functions across a global luxury travel enterprise and multi-asset investment platform, advising executive leadership through sensitive operational matters, crisis situations, cross-border transactions, and enterprise risk decisions. Her transactional experience includes M&A transactions valued at up to $50 million, startup investments ranging from $5 million to $15 million, and approximately $70 million in financing and construction transactions involving luxury vessels and international counterparties.

Earlier in her career, Rossella served as Associate General Counsel for The RMR Group, a publicly traded real estate management platform. Her telecommunications experience included advising C-suite leadership at AT&T, Sprint, and Blue Sky Tower Partners on regulatory, infrastructure, spectrum, emerging technology, and cross-border matters, including commercial contract work following the $30 billion Sprint/Nextel merger.

At FEP, Rossella provides legal oversight across commercial agreements, client confidentiality, corporate governance, employment and HR matters, regulatory compliance, privacy and data security, operational policies, crisis response, outside counsel management, and enterprise risk. Her role provides FEP clients and partners with an additional layer of legal governance across client relationships and protective operations.

Rossella holds a Juris Doctor from New England School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Business & International Marketing from Drexel University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and qualified as New York In-House Counsel, and holds CIPP/US credentials focused on privacy.

Rossella strengthens FEP’s organizational infrastructure by bringing sophisticated legal governance into a private protection environment. Her leadership ensures that FEP’s protective mission is supported by the same level of legal discipline, discretion, and risk management expected by the clients it serves.

Dr. Robert L. Quigley, M.D., D.Phil.
Medical Director

Office of the CEO, François Executive Partners™
Executive Health & Risk

Dr. Robert L. Quigley is the Medical Director of François Executive Partners, providing medical governance, crisis medicine integration, and executive health risk strategy for the firm’s UHNW, family offices, and corporate clients.

With over 30 years as a Duke/Oxford trained physician, surgeon, scientist, and global healthcare executive, Dr. Quigley brings institutional-grade medical leadership to high-consequence protective operations. Prior to joining FEP, he served as Senior Vice President and Global Medical Director at International SOS, leading medical assistance, aeromedical evacuation, and crisis mitigation/response across the globe for thousands of multinational organizations.

Clinically, Dr. Quigley spent more than 25 years as a triple US board re-certified cardio-thoracic/trauma surgeon and Professor of Surgery, directing nationally recognized open-heart programs with outcomes exceeding STS benchmarks. With a doctorate in immunology his research and publications have advanced transplant medicine, oncology therapeutics, and infectious disease response.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Quigley served as a global authority on infectious disease risk, advising corporations, governments, and institutions on workforce resilience, return-to-work strategy, and duty-of-care obligations.

At François Executive Partners, Dr. Quigley provides:

• Medical governance and clinical oversight for protective operations
• Executive and family office health risk advisory
• Crisis medicine integration and medical contingency planning
• Global travel health, evacuation, and duty-of-care strategy
• Protective and concierge medicine within CONUS and OCONUS

Dr. Quigley holds an MD from the University of Toronto and a DPhil in Immunology from the University of Oxford (Balliol College). He maintains unrestricted medical licensure in New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania, serving as a trusted medical authority for clients operating at the highest levels of visibility and risk.

Mark Pagan
Director of Training

Training Division, François Executive Partners™
Personnel Development & Operational Excellence

Mark Pagan serves as Director of Training at François Executive Partners™, where he is responsible for ensuring that every individual representing the firm meets The FEP Standard™ without exception.

He oversees all training, onboarding, and certification processes, translating real-world operational demands into disciplined, repeatable systems that produce consistent, high-level performance. His authority is absolute in one regard: no personnel are cleared for client-facing operations without meeting the standard he enforces.

Mark brings over two decades of frontline experience in dignitary protection, law enforcement, and military combat operations. He has led protective teams in New York City, safeguarded public officials and dignitaries as a member of the NYPD Intelligence Division, and commanded Marines as a Platoon Sergeant during combat deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom and across multiple global theaters.

This experience directly shapes FEP’s training philosophy, which is grounded in reality, not theory. Under his leadership, training extends beyond technical skill to include judgment, discretion, presentation, and the ability to perform under pressure in environments where there is no margin for error.

Working in close coordination with protective operations leadership, Mark ensures that all training reflects current threats, client expectations, and the realities of executive protection at the highest level. At François Executive Partners™, his role is not instructional; it is decisive. He defines readiness, enforces accountability, and ensures that every FEP professional is prepared before ever stepping in front of a client.

James Powers
Director of Executive Operations

Executive Operations, François Executive Partners™
Operational Strategy & Executive Support

James Powers is the Director of Executive Operations at François Executive Partners™, responsible for the control and execution of all internal executive support operations. He oversees personnel, systems, and workflow discipline, ensuring operational precision, communication control, and uninterrupted support of the CEO’s priorities.

He leads all executive support personnel and maintains authority over internal tasking, access, and performance standards. James conducts final interviews, approves assignments, and enforces accountability across all support functions to ensure alignment with FEP’s operational standards.

James also represents François Executive Partners in select external engagements, attending industry conferences and supporting contract negotiations on behalf of the firm. He operates as a direct extension of the CEO when required, ensuring continuity in both internal operations and external representation.

With over 20 years of leadership experience, James has held senior roles including President and Vice President of Executive Consultants Inc., and Director of Operations for hospitality and executive environments across New York City and the Hamptons. His background reflects a consistent focus on structured operations, team leadership, and execution under pressure.

James ensures that François Executive Partners operates with discipline, precision, and zero operational drift.

Robert Houston
Director of Protective Operations

Protective Operations, François Executive Partners™
Field Command & Operational Readiness

Robert Houston is the Director of Protective Operations at François Executive Partners™, leading and commanding all field protection operations. He oversees all FEP agents, approves deployment assignments, and maintains operational readiness across every engagement in alignment with The FEP Standard™.

He holds full authority over agent selection, team composition, and field performance. Robert determines deployment structure based on client risk, operational requirements, and mission fit, and enforces immediate accountability across all protective personnel. 

Robert serves as the primary operational authority during active or potential security incidents, executing protective decisions in real time and reporting directly to the CEO.

With over 16 years of experience in executive protection and law enforcement, he has led operations for Fortune 500 executives, dignitaries, and high-net-worth individuals in both domestic and international environments. His background includes roles supporting the United States Marshals Service, Department of State, and private-sector protection teams, maintaining a consistent record of zero-incident performance in high-risk environments.

Robert ensures that François Executive Partners operates in the field with precision, discipline, and zero margin for failure.