Matthew Duchesne New Chief Of FCC’s ONAP

The FCC today appointed Matthew Duchesne as the chief of the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy. 

“We are delighted to welcome Matthew to the ONAP team,” said Patrick Webre, acting chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. “He brings leadership, vision and a wide range of policy making and practical experience that will be key to enhancing the commission’s engagement with Native Nations.”

The Office of Native Affairs and Policy serves as the Commission’s catalyst to help improve the level of broadband, telecommunications, and broadcast deployment throughout Indian country.  The office represents the FCC in government-to-government consultation with sovereign Tribal nations, works with other FCC offices and bureaus to develop and implement policies for assisting Native communities, and ensures that Native concerns and voices are considered in all relevant commission proceedings and initiatives.

Duchesne is joining the commission from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation where he served as program manager for Native American and International Affairs. While there, he led the agency’s work related to Tribal consultation and negotiation of settlements associated with Tribal water rights claims in the western United States.

Duchesne has also worked as a senior policy official at the Department of Energy with a portfolio that included serving as a negotiator with Tribal and state governments on behalf of the United States.

He served as a Brookings Institution legislative fellow with U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Senator Ron Wyden, and served as a Supreme Court fellow in the office of the late U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist. 

Duchesne earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with high honors.  He holds a B.A. in political science from Miami University (magna cum laude) and a master’s in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.