Grounded in Legacy: Manon Palandjian — Operator, Athlete, and Steward of a Family Real Estate Empire

Manon Palandjian

Quick Facts

Item Detail
Full name Manon Palandjian Freese (née Palandjian)
Date of birth July 31, 1991
Place of birth Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hometown Belmont, Massachusetts
Education Boston College, B.A. in Human Development with focus on Communications (Class of 2013)
Athletics Boston College Division I women’s volleyball, outside hitter (2009–2012); Dana Hall School varsity captain (2008–2009)
Current role Director, Risk & Portfolio Operations, Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation
Family business founded Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation — 1959
Family portfolio size (firm) $10+ billion in assets (corporate figure)
Spouse Nathan “Nate” Freese (married June 18, 2022)
Children Daughter: Mila Freese (born circa 2023)
Notable family dates Grandfather Petros A. Palandjian (1927–1996); Grandmother Sheila Laurianna Palandjian (1941–2025, died August 9, 2025)

Early Life and the Shape of Competition

Born July 31, 1991, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Manon grew up in Belmont under the twin influences of heritage and athletics. The oldest child of Peter and Marie-Louise “Minou” Palandjian, she was raised in a family where business strategy and competitive sport shared table space. At Dana Hall School she captained the varsity volleyball team in her junior and senior seasons (2008–2009) and collected MVP honors as a junior and then both team and league MVP as a senior. Those early markers — leadership, consistent performance, the habit of practice — read like a blueprint for the roles she would take on later: quiet authority and steady impact.

College Years: Boston College (2009–2013)

Manon matriculated at Boston College in the fall of 2009 and played as an outside hitter for the Eagles from 2009 through 2012. Her academic focus in Human Development with an emphasis on Communications (degree conferred 2013) complemented her athletic life. The rhythm of travel, training and studies sharpened time management and teamwork; these would translate directly into corporate operations work. Simple numbers matter here: four years of collegiate athletics, one undergraduate degree, and a seamless transition into the family firm in the year of her graduation.

From Marketing to Portfolio Operations: Professional Trajectory

After graduating in 2013, Manon joined Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation — the firm her grandfather founded in 1959. She began in marketing and communications, leading brand initiatives and digital strategy work that included external agency collaborations and client testimonials. Over roughly a decade she moved into operational leadership and now holds the title Director of Risk & Portfolio Operations.

Her remit reads like the backbone of a large institutional platform: portfolio management for national commercial assets, risk assessment, operational efficiency, and data analytics. She has been involved in software implementations — notably Pereview — to strengthen asset management workflows and reporting. The firm’s scale provides context: Intercontinental oversees a portfolio measured in billions of dollars (commonly referenced as $10+ billion). Within that ecosystem Manon’s role is not a front-of-stage celebrity role; it is a backstage orchestration of systems, processes, and institutional relationships that keep the stage lit.

Family Portrait: Names, Dates, and Relationships

The Palandjian family blends Armenian-American immigration history with multi-generational business leadership. Below is a compact roster of principal family members and ties — a table built to read at a glance.

Name Relationship to Manon Born–Died / Notable dates Notes
Petros A. Palandjian Paternal grandfather 1927–1996 Founder of Intercontinental (1959); immigrant story; family patriarch
Sheila Laurianna Palandjian (née Kelly) Paternal grandmother 1941–2025 (died Aug 9, 2025) Family matriarch; volunteer work and family gatherings
Peter Palandjian Father b. 1964 CEO & Chairman of Intercontinental since 1993; former pro tennis player; remarried in 2018
Marie-Louise “Minou” Palandjian Mother Private life; Manon’s mother from Peter’s first marriage
Eliza Dushku Palandjian Stepmother b. 1980 (married Peter 2018) Actress; mother to two of Peter’s younger children
Petros, Margot, Madelon Palandjian Siblings born 1990s–2000s Manon’s full siblings; participate in family events
Bourne and Bodan (Philip & Gregory Dushku Palandjian) Half-brothers Bourne: July 2019; Bodan: Aug 2021 Children of Peter and Eliza; part of next generation
Nathan “Nate” Freese Husband Former Boston College football player; married June 18, 2022
Mila Freese Daughter born ~2023 Manon and Nate’s daughter; fourth generation of family

These data points — birth years, marriage dates, generational notes — sketch a house full of overlapping timelines. The family’s public moments (weddings, memorials, collegiate athletics) are punctuated by steady corporate calendars and philanthropic gestures.

Personal Life, Privacy, and Public Presence

Manon’s public footprint is modest. Social accounts are sparse and often dated; professional posts appear intermittently on LinkedIn, with a noted career update tied to software implementation in 2021. Significant life events have been shared selectively: the Nantucket wedding on June 18, 2022 (Bartlett’s Farm) was a family-centered affair with athletic ties — the bride and groom having met as student-athletes — and the arrival of daughter Mila around 2023 added a new branch to the family tree.

The death of her grandmother Sheila on August 9, 2025, was a recent family milestone that drew memorial notes and highlighted multigenerational bonds. The family’s public-facing moments often read like vignettes: a wedding on Nantucket; summer gatherings in Falmouth; memorials that trace the lineage back to Iran and forward to children born in the 2010s and 2020s.

Numbers, Roles, and Institutional Context

Metric Figure or Range
Year Intercontinental founded 1959
Manon’s birth year 1991
Boston College volleyball seasons 2009–2012 (4 seasons)
Year graduated Boston College 2013
Wedding date June 18, 2022
Daughter Mila’s birth circa 2023
Grandmother Sheila’s death August 9, 2025
Intercontinental assets under management $10+ billion (corporate level)

Manon’s career sits at the intersection of these numbers: years of experience (roughly a decade since joining the family firm), software rollouts, and portfolio scale. Her title implies oversight of risk frameworks and operational discipline across a national asset base; in an organization with $10+ billion in holdings, the operational levers she touches affect large cash flows, reporting lines, and institutional relationships.

Timeline Snapshot

Year Event
1959 Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation founded
1927–1996 Life of founder Petros A. Palandjian
July 31, 1991 Manon Palandjian born
2008–2009 Dana Hall varsity captain; MVP seasons
2009–2012 Boston College volleyball; outside hitter
2013 Graduated Boston College; joined Intercontinental
2018 Public marketing/testimonial appearances
2021 Noted LinkedIn post about Pereview implementation
June 18, 2022 Married Nathan Freese on Nantucket
~2023 Daughter Mila born
August 9, 2025 Death of grandmother Sheila Laurianna Palandjian

Portrait in Motion

Manon’s life reads like a relay race where the baton passes smoothly from athletics to operations, from family legacy to individual stewardship. She navigates corporate corridors rather than the glare of public acclaim. Her skill set — communications, analytics, operational rigor — functions like a carefully maintained engine: rarely loud, always necessary. The family around her is a constellation of dates and names, each point of light tied to the story of an immigrant founder, a private matriarch, and a modern, professional next generation carrying both name and responsibility forward.

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