Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy) of Mashantucket has been named a new member of the board of directors of the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Newell is the co-founder/director of Education for Akomawt Educational Initiative, a majority Native-owned educational consultancy based in Connecticut.

He was born and raised in Motahkmikuhk (Indian Township, Maine) and is a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township.

He is a longtime member of the Mystic River singers, an internationally acclaimed and award-winning intertribal pow wow drum group.

He served as the first Wabanaki Executive Director for the Abbe Museum, Maine’s only Smithsonian affiliate.

At the annual June meeting, the board also elected Dawn Gibson-Brehon, an Assistant Professor at SUNY Purchase College.

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