Potter earned his Juris doctorate from the University of Iowa and a master's in business administration from the University of Chicago. He serves as a trustee for the YMCA of Springfield, serves on the Board of Directors for the Prairie State Bank & Trust, is past president of The American Civil Liberties Union Springfield Chapter, and is a founding director and member of the Board of Directors for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Illinois Capital Region. Potter joined the Knox College Board of Trustees in 1979 as an alumni trustee and rejoined the Board in 1994 as a general trustee, moving to emeritus in 2018.