Meet The Team

Jessica Cannon, MD, co-founder

Jessica Cannon is co-founder of Clean Cape Fear. She is a mother of three boys, a retired physician and a self-described ‘political junkie’.  A native Virginian, she completed her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Virginia, and her medical training in obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Virginia. Before going to medical school, she worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide. Along with their children, she and her husband Kevin have lived in Wilmington for 17 years, where she practiced medicine until 2006.

Jessica believes, in the tradition of Paul Wellstone, that “we all do better when we all do better.” Her particular areas of interest include political and civic issues that affect the well-being of children and families in our community. But she has opinions on almost everything. Just ask her.

In 2019, Jessica was appointed to Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s board due to her tireless advocacy for clean water. She is also co-founder of Suit Up Wilmington, a 3,500+ member grassroots organization, formed in November 2016, that works for fairness and accountability in government in Southeastern North Carolina.

Emily Donovan, co-founder

Emily is co-founder of Clean Cape Fear. Her work has helped elevate NC's PFAS contamination crisis to the national and international stage. She has testified before Congress twice regarding PFAS contamination and was recently recognized by UN experts as a human rights defender for her work in helping secure the first ever federal drinking water standards for PFAS—including GenX. She helped organize and co-host two screenings of the movie, Dark Waters, in Wilmington and Raleigh featuring special guest, Mark Ruffalo--both events resulted in NC's Attorney General suing DuPont/Chemours for natural resource damages and NC's General Assembly filing a historic amount of PFAS bills during the 2021-2022 legislative session. Emily helped secure reverse osmosis filling stations for 49 public schools impacted by PFAS contamination in Brunswick and New Hanover counties. She is a member of the leadership team for the National PFAS Contamination Coalition and sits on various community advisory boards and coalitions working to address PFAS contamination. Most recently, she engaged the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate business-related human rights abuses associated with PFAS exposures within the Lower Cape Fear region. She frequents Washington, DC and Raleigh, NC pressuring lawmakers and regulators for quicker responses to our growing PFAS public health crisis.

Emily is a former youth ministry leader who now does communications work for a local church. She lives in Brunswick County with her husband, David, and boy/girl twins.  She's been a resident of Brunswick County since 2009.

Harper Peterson, co-founder

Harper Peterson is married to Plunkett Dodge and together they have five children and two grandchildren. They have been successful business partners for the past 40 years in historic downtown Wilmington and on Bald Head Island. Harper is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, majoring in Meso-American Archeology and excelling in Lacrosse as a three time First Team All American. Harper is a co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a lifetime member of the Bald Head Island Conservancy, and founding member of Cape Fear River Watch. He served on the Wilmington City Council and as Mayor in the late 1990s and early 2000s and most recently in the NC Senate from 2019-2020. In 2020, Harper received the Green Tie Award as “Senator of the Year” from the NC League of Conservation Voters. Harper remains committed to protecting the environmental and economic resources that preeminently define the quality of life in Southeastern North Carolina.

Harper and Plunkett live in Downtown Wilmington.

Sonya Bennetone - Patrick

Sonya Bennetone - Patrick (AmenRa) is the Southeastern Regional Director of the National Black Leadership Caucus and the Chairperson of the 1898 Massacre and Coup D’état Observance Committee. She worked to remove confederate statues from downtown Wilmington, NC and ensures the public is aware of Wilmington’s 1898 history. Sonya was District Director of the Pardon of Innocence for the Wilmington Ten Committee where her advocacy helped secure a pardon from former Gov. Perdue exonerating ten individuals who were wrongfully convicted in the 1970s in Wilmington, NC. Sonya’s public health advocacy efforts include encouraging Congress to pass the Affordable Health Care Act which gained her an invitation to the White House from President Barack Obama.

Sonya has dedicated her life to fighting for social justice and change within the political, medical and educational systems. She works hard to educate the community about the current and historical impact of racism. She has remained unrelenting and persevering in her fight for social justice, using both organizational strategies as well as civil protest. She continues to hold various offices on the national, state, regional, and county levels.

Sonya is the proud mother of three and graduated from St. Augustine College with a BS in Computer Science.

Steve Schnitzler

Steve Schnitzler has been Chief Executive Officer of Port City Java since 2008 and has been with the company for almost 27 years. Prior to entering the coffee industry, Steve graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with Honors in 1989, and worked as an Executive Chef for a little over 8 years. 

Steve has been a guest lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC State University, NC Wesleyan, UNC Chapel Hill and Cape Fear Community College.  He has also been a Keynote Speaker for UNCW’s Coastal Entrepreneurial Council annual awards banquet. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Full Belly Project, Wilmington Health Access for Teens, as well as The Carousel Center. In 2010 he was recognized as one of the New Hanover County Volunteers of the Year by the Cape Fear Volunteer Center, and received the NC Governors award for Volunteerism in the Corporate Volunteer Category. He originated the Marines for Thanksgiving program and has matched over 1300 young Marines with local families to be able to enjoy the holiday when they are stuck far from home. 

Steve currently serves on the Hospitality Management Advisory Committee of Cape Fear Community College as well as the Community Involvement Board at UNCW.

He has recently celebrated his 33rd wedding anniversary with his wife Lisa, a retired and now un-retired teacher of over 30 years. They have 2 adult daughters.  His private well became contaminated with PFAS from Chemours, and he launched into organizing his neighbors to make sure they all received the remediation they are entitled to, and is happy to be a part of taking the fight to another level to make sure that polluters are held accountable.

Rebecca Trammel

Community organizer and non-profit leader Rebecca Trammel was born in the City of Brotherly Love and raised in Wilmington, NC. The Scripture verse, “Justice, justice, you shall pursue,” is the guiding force of her life. 

Trammel has made it her life’s work to pursue justice for those whose voices often go unheard. As Founder and President of Ruthie Trammel’s Champions for Compassion, Trammel works to support those recovering from substance abuse by removing obstacles to healing and restoring hope. Trammel is Lead Advocate at Community Conversations, which she launched in 2019 to promote equity and excellence in the education of New Hanover County’s Black and Brown students. Through a partnership with the Blue Ribbon Commission, the  project received a $25,000 investment from Duke Progress Energy.

During the summer of 2020, Trammel was on the frontlines of community efforts towards addressing structural racism, including dialogue on systemic issues, removal of Confederate statues, and policy reform. Trammel led Community Conversations in teaming with the Cucalorus Film Festival to co-curate this year’s event, which centered around racism in  America. Together, the two organizations plan to host  monthly “Community Conversations” to create space for personal growth and drive policy change.  Trammel was recognized in October of 2020 as a Wilma Woman to Watch in the nonprofit sector. 

Trammel is known for launching high impact, short-term initiatives when natural disaster strikes or there is injustice causing distress to her neighbors. Recently, she launched the Dream Big program, a campaign to provide high quality air mattresses & bedding for school-aged children in need, and instruction on healthy sleep habits in partnership with the hospital and NHCS. Through programs such as these, consulting and public speaking, Trammel works to protect and empower marginalized communities and be their advocate.