Meet the Covenant House Leadership Team

William J. Montgoris, Chairman of the Board of Directors

William Montgoris is the retired Chief Operating Officer of the investment banking firm, Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. After graduating from St. John's University in 1967 and serving in the Air National Guard, Mr. Montgoris began his career with the public accounting firm Lybrand Ross Bros and Montgomery, now known as PriceWaterhouseCoopers. In 1975 he left PriceWaterhouseCoopers to become Controller of Blyth, Eastman Dillon and Co., and in 1979 became that firm's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Later that year Blyth was sold to Paine Webber and Mr. Montgoris accepted a position as Controller of Bear Stearns and Co. At Bear Stearns, Mr. Montgoris became a general partner in 1985, the CFO in 1987 and the firm's Chief Operating Officer in 1993. He was a member of the Board of Directors and of the Management and Compensation Committee. He chaired the firm's Operations Committee and was a member of various other committees responsible for the management of the company. He retired in June 1999, after a twenty-year career in which the firm grew from a small partnership to a large publicly traded company.

In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board of Covenant House International, Mr. Montgoris is the Chair of its Audit Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He is on the Boards of Trustees at St. John's University and Colby College, where he is a member of the Executive Committee at both institutions. An active philanthropist, he has endowed scholarships at both St. John's and Colby and endowed the new dining hall on the St. John's campus. He is the Chair of the St. John's Capital Campaign seeking to raise $250 million. He is also a member of the Board and Assistant Secretary of the Hackensack University Medical Center.

Mr. Montgoris has been married to Margaret Anderson for thirty six years. They have three daughters, Christy, Erica, and Meg, and a grandson, Matthew, and are looking forward to welcoming their second grandchild soon.

James Morgan White, Interim President and CEO

James M. White is the Interim President and CEO of Covenant House International. Before that, he held the Chief Operating Officer position for two years where he worked to align the visions, plans and operations of the organizations 21 sites throughout North and Latin America. To this end, he created the organization's first inclusive and collaborative strategic plan, initiating an unprecedented opportunity to leverage and support the incredible work undertaken by Covenant House's frontline workers and leadership with over 65,000 homeless street kids each year.

Jim grew up in Flushing, New York with his parents, four sisters and brother. He attended Saint Francis Preparatory High School, where he was introduced to Franciscan spirituality and the responsibility to serve the poor. Jim received a full athletic scholarship for tennis to attend Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. After receiving a scholarship, Jim began the MBA program at Long Island University.

Before starting his business career, Jim decided to "give back." He came to Covenant House in 1982 as a full-time volunteer at 41st Street in New York City. Soon thereafter, Jim was asked to take on the role of Ombudsman of New York and reported directly to Father Bruce Ritter. In 1985, Jim was asked to be part of the development team with Covenant House's new transitional living program, Rights of Passage (ROP). As Associate Director of ROP, Jim welcomed the first five young men into this pioneering program.

In early 1987, Jim made a significant career change and began working in the Fixed Income Department of Bear Stearns. In 1990, he returned to Covenant House New York and worked in Rights of Passage while pursuing his Masters in Social Work from Stony Brook University.

In 1994, Jim was hired as Executive Director of Covenant House New Jersey (CHNJ). During his 12 years at CHNJ, Jim grew the budget to close to $8,000,000, expanded residential services to 120 young people each night and added a comprehensive array of services through Crisis, ROP and the Mothers and Babies programs.

Jim lives in Franklin Lakes, NJ with his wife Donna and their four children Morgan, Conor, Reilly and Brady.

Thomas J. Potenza, Senior Vice President for Administration and Human Resources

Thomas J. Potenza came to Covenant House in 2005 as Vice President for Development Operations and became the Senior Vice President for Administration in 2006 and for Human Resources in 2008.

Tom spent 27 years as a Catholic school teacher of British Literature, Religious Studies and Latin, having worked with some of the most brilliant young minds in the metropolitan area, as well as some of the neediest inner city kids; both filled him with great satisfaction and many happy memories. He then served the Archdiocese of New York as assistant principal and principal of St. Agnes Boys High School from 1987-97, forming that school's first Board of Directors and focusing almost exclusively on fundraising and enrollment growth, allowing St. Agnes to survive a serious threat of closure. Later, as Director of Development Education for the Archdiocese from 1997-2002, Tom redesigned a number of scholarship programs for inner-city youth, managed educational leadership training programs and worked with more than 120 pastors and principals on their strategic development efforts. He also spent five years on the Archdiocesan School Management Committee which formed long range educational plans for the Church's 200 schools in New York City and the upper counties.

In 2002 Tom became Executive Director of Boys Hope Girls Hope of New York, one of 16 national affiliates of an organization devoted to housing and educating through college needy youngsters who could best survive away from their home environments. Again, this gave him broad experience with challenged youth and increased awareness of the problems that develop when students "age out" of the foster care system.

At Covenant House, Tom has taken responsibility for all major administrative functions (including the coordination of the Board of Directors, the design and management of the headquarters move from 17th Street, and the agency-wide strategic plan); he also supervises the Human Resources staff, and manages the facilities aspects of the central office.

Tom received his undergraduate degree from Marist College, Poughkeepsie, and has two masters degrees, one from Seton Hall University and the other from the University of San Francisco.

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