Our team is driven by love and compassion

Our team holds an unwavering belief in the capacity for change

Meet Sister Tesa

Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, CSJ, Executive Director

In 1986, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, CSJ, helped develop a home in Long Island City, Queens for children whose mothers were incarcerated. Hour Children was born from the realization that the mothers she was visiting would need additional support if they were to successfully reunite with their children after their release. In 1992, Hour Children was incorporated and is now the leading provider of prison- and community-based family services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their children.

Sister Tesa received her Bachelors in Education from Brentwood College and Masters in Education from Queens College. Sr. Tesa is the recipient of many awards and honors for her work with families involved in the criminal justice system. In 2015, she was awarded the Cross Pro-Ecclesia et Pontifice. She has been named a TIAA Difference Maker (2018), winner of the Renewal Award from the Atlantic (2017) and the Opus Prize (2014); a White House Champion of Change (2013); a CNN Hero (2012); and one of the Top “100” Irish Americans, by Irish American Magazine.

Prior to starting Hour Children, Sister Tesa worked in the Office of Catholic Education for the Diocese of Brooklyn, and served as a school principal and teacher at various Catholic elementary schools in Queens and Brooklyn.

Contact: 718-433-4724 ext. 312 | sistertesa@hourchildren.org

Hour Children’s Staff