Evy Poumpouras

Poumpouras was born in the United States to immigrant parents from Greece.[1] Her father is from Mesta and her mother is from Kilkis, Greece.[2] She grew up in Queens, New York City.[3] As a child, she and her brother spent most of their summers in Greece with extended family members.[1] Greek is her first language followed by English.[1] She learned Italian while studying at the American University of Rome.[1] Poumpouras learned Spanish while in Mexico for a semester and French after studying in France.[1] She was the first in her family to attend college.[4] She graduated from Hofstra University.[5] Poumpouras earned a M.A. in forensic psychology from Argosy University.[6]

Poumpouras worked in the insurance industry after college.[5] She interned for U.S. representative Carolyn McCarthy who suggested she consider joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation or United States Secret Service (USSS).[5] At the age of 23, Poumpouras spent five months training at the police academy of the New York City Police Department.[3] In 2000, she then accepted an offer to join the USSS.[3] Early into her career, she faced sexisim from her colleagues.[7] At the time, over 90 percent of special agents were males.[7] Poumpouras passed the same physical requirements as her male counterparts.[7] She worked for the USSS for twelve years during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.[8] For her first eight years in the service, Poumpouras worked in the New York Field Office as a polygraph examiner and interrogator in the polygraph unit.[9][3] She interviewed criminal offenders and suspects to gain intelligence.[8] She was a first responder to the September 11 attacks, for which, she received a USSS Valor Award.[8] After the attacks, she learned Arabic.[1] Poumpouras later served as a special agent in the presidential protective division tasked with protecting president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.[9] She left the USSS in 2012.[3]

After leaving USSS, Poumpouras earned a master's degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[8] In 2020, Poumpouras authored the memoir, Becoming Bulletproof.[10] She is a journalist and co-hosted the Bravo TV series, Spy Games.[8] She is an adjunct professor of criminal justice and criminology at the City University of New York.[3][9]

• Poumpouras, Evy (2020). Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-9821-0375-0.

• Official website
• Evy Poumpouras at IMDb