Pamela Brewington Cashwell

Pamela Brewington Cashwell was nominated by Governor Josh Stein and took the oath of office as secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) in January 2025. As Secretary, Cashwell oversees the department’s nearly 2,400 employees and more than 100 locations across the state covering everything from state parks and natural areas, history, art and science museums, the North Carolina Zoo and Aquariums to historic sites, the State Library and Archives as well as various commissions.

Prior to DNCR, Cashwell served in Governor Cooper’s cabinet as secretary at the North Carolina Department of Administration from 2021 through 2024. She previously served as senior policy advisor and chief deputy secretary for Professional Standards, Policy and Planning at the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, as assistant director at the North Carolina State Ethics Commission, and as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division and the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Hailing from the Lumbee and Coharie tribes of North Carolina, Cashwell is the first American Indian woman to head a cabinet department in North Carolina.

She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives in Wake County with her husband, David. They have two sons, Samuel and Benjamin.