Wendy Montoya Cloonan

Wendy is a native Houstonian, born and raised, and a product of public schools from elementary to high school. Wendy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and attained a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University‘s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She thereafter received her Doctor of Jurisprudence with Honors from The University of Texas School of Law.

Wendy began her legal career in public finance over 15 years ago. In the public finance arena, she works at the intersection of law, finance, and community infrastructure. After starting her career at Vinson & Elkins LLP, she continued at Andrews Kurth LLP before she entered private philanthropy at Houston Endowment, Inc. and had the opportunity to serve as both a grantmaker of an education portfolio and Director of Legal. In this capacity, Wendy worked with a varied portfolio of non-profit clients and the public and private sector to improve the quality of life for residents of greater Houston. In 2019, Wendy founded The Law Firm of Wendy Montoya Cloonan, PLLC which is 100% owned and operated as a Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise.

Wendy has been active in various civic organizations throughout her career. Committed to a diverse array of community involvement, currently, Wendy serves on the Executive Board and is Secretary of the Houston Downtown Management District and on the national board of The Young Center, which champions for the rights and best interests of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children. Additionally, Wendy was her children’s elementary school PTO President in 2019-2020 and will soon be PTO President of the middle school of one of her children in 2021-2022. Wendy also annually interviews high school students for her university alma mater as a member of the Yale Alumni/Schools Committee.

In June 2019, Wendy was appointed as a Port Commissioner to the seven-member Port of Houston Authority Port Commission by Harris County Commissioner’s Court. She serves on the Community Relations Committee, Compensation Committee, and chairs the Business Equity Committee. In May 2020, the Commissioner’s Court of Harris County appointed Wendy as the county appointee to the $30,000,000 COVID-19 Relief Fund created by the County and held with the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Most recently, in February 2021, Wendy was voted on to the CenterPoint Energy Board of Directors. She sits on the Compensation Committee and Governance Committee.