Pamela Brewington Cashwell

Pamela Brewington Cashwell is an American lawyer and politician. She was appointed as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Administration in 2021 by Governor Roy Cooper, becoming the first Native American woman to head a North Carolina Cabinet. She was appointed as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources by Governor Josh Stein in 2025.

Early life and education Cashwell grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina and descends from the Coharie and Lumbee tribes. Her mother, Gertie Goins Brewington, owned a beauty salon and dress shop and worked for the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs. Her father, Arthur Samuel Brewington, owned a trucking business. Cashwell was a fancy dancer in her youth, competing throughout high school and in college. She also worked for the White House Counsel's office and the United States Department of Justice, eventually landing a job as a trial lawyer with the department's Civil Rights Division in the Office of Justice Programs.

On June 19, 2023, she was named a Legal Legend of Color honoree by the North Carolina Bar Association. She served on the UNC Board of Visitors, the Carolina Indian Circle Board, the Carolina Women's Leadership Council, and the UNC Alumni Committee for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. She helped with restoration and clean-up efforts at Marshall High Studios on Blannahassett Island in Marshall and attended the reopening of Chimney Rock State Park. They live in Wake County.