Jessica Cannon

Jessica Cannon is a mother of three school-aged 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.

She is 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.

Lynn Shoemaker

Lynn Shoemaker has been a resident of Wilmington since 1982, and it is here that she reared her daughter Marlee. Shoemaker began her career in public education in New Hanover County as a middle school and high school teacher with certification in nine academic areas including science, and left the classroom as Teacher of the Year to advance the rights of public school teachers and students as a field organizer for the NC Association of Educators-NCAE and later as a freelance political organizer for the National Education Association.

She received back-to-back national school press awards for coverage of issues impacting public school employees and students in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Shoemaker has served the state as a governor-appointed member of the NC Women's Council. She also has served the rights of women as a board member for the NC Political Women's Caucus (bipartisan), The Dance Cooperative, Inc., Friends of Planned Parenthood, Lillian's List of NC and as an advisory Board member of Public Schools First NC, where she continues to serve today.

Presently, Shoemaker serves on the Parent Council of the NAACP and the Board of Directors for the NC Foundation for Public School Children as an advocate for students. In addition she is the founding member of the grassroots organization WoW!-Women Organizing for Wilmington. She is also the Executive Director of the TarHeel Alliance of Classroom Teachers and a freelance writer of short stories and essays as well as author to many papers on effective education leadership.

Lynn Shoemaker is an alumna of William Peace University formerly known as Peace College in Raleigh, NC (English and Business Law) and has an M.Ed. in Secondary English Education and Instructional Technology from UNC Wilmington, where she was inducted into Pi Lambda Theta (an international honor society for educators).

When she's not in the field fighting for social justice for the most socio-economically disadvantaged of our citizenry, her husband Sandy Younce and she enjoy traveling, reading, cooking and entertaining, music and organic gardening.

Emily Donovan

Emily is the Youth Director at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk, Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. located on Wrightsville Beach.  She is a strong public advocate for social justice issues and regularly partners with community organizations to influence public policy that adversely impacts the "least of these" [Matthew 25: 44-45].  She is co-founder of Stand Up Brunswick, a grassroots organization in Brunswick County focused on educating, empowering, and engaging the community with government officials on issues of social justice.

Prior to her ministry calling, she spent ten years in marketing communications working for a Global Fortune 500 company where she regularly traveled the world implementing marketing strategies.  

Emily lives in Brunswick County with her husband, David, and boy/girl twins.  She's been a resident of Brunswick County since 2009.

Dana Sargent

Dana worked as a copywriter for Tony Robbins and a freelance journalist before spending 13 years in the field of membership communications and knowledge management working for a large nonprofit in D.C. Academically, she earned a BA in journalism from San Diego State University, and an MS in environmental sciences and policy from The Johns Hopkins University - and enjoyed jumping in the Cape Fear River on a cold November day in a survival suit during a Boat Handling and Seamanship course she took at Cape Fear Community College!  Currently, she writes an environmental blog at www.greenandbluestuff.com and is a freelance contributor to Coastal Review Online. She serves on the Board of Directors with Cape Fear River Watch, and chairs their advocacy committee. She is an advisory committee member with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and currently serves as the Offshore Oil Coordinator for the Cape Fear Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. She lives near the water with her husband who builds boats and their two awe-inspiring daughters.

Roger Shew

Roger has a BA in Earth Sciences from UNC-Wilmington, a Masters in Geology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Masters in Science Education from the University of Houston. Roger worked in the energy industry for 20 years before returning to his home in Wilmington in 2000. He has been at UNCWilmington since that time teaching in the Earth and Ocean Sciences and Environmental Sciences Departments. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses concentrating on sedimentology, coastal geology, water and energy resources, environmental methods, sustainability, natural history, and geoscience education. Roger serves as Co-Chair of the Sustainability Committee at UNCW; he received the UNCW Sustainability Award in 2015. He also received the North Carolina Outstanding Earth Science Educator Award in 2016. Roger serves on the Boards of Cape Fear River Watch and the Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration. He also works with the Nature Conservancy on conservation and restoration projects dealing with longleaf pines, venus flytraps, and endangered species.