Professional Staff
Jaime Cheshire
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jaime Cheshire is a national security professional with 25 years of service on Capitol Hill and as a senior intelligence service officer in the Intelligence Community. Prior to serving as Executive Director of the commission, Jaime served as Executive Secretary of the Central Intelligence Agency, where she oversaw the Operations Center, providing 24-7 support to agency leadership and the White House. As director of the Office of Congressional Affairs, she advised the agency’s senior leadership on all legislative strategy and served as the agency’s liaison to the U.S. Congress. For her service, she received the Presidential Rank Award and the Director’s Award three times. From 2009 to 2017, Jaime served as senior advisor to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. She helped enact seven consecutive National Defense Authorization Acts while navigating committee and floor debates on critical national security issues. In this role, she conducted six oversight trips into Afghanistan. Earlier in her career, Jaime served as legislative director to Rep. Buck McKeon (California) and her home district representative, Rep. Nancy Johnson (Connecticut), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. Jaime served as a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Connecticut, her alma mater. She completed her lifelong goal of a 2,200-mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2021.
Julie Martin
GENERAL COUNSEL
Julie Martin has served for nearly two decades as a trusted legal advisor to senior national security and foreign policy officials on a broad range of novel and complex issues. Immediately prior to joining the Commission, Julie served as a Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where she oversaw practice groups providing primary legal support to the Chief Operating Officer, Directorate of Policy and Capabilities, and the National Counterterrorism and National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Centers. She served as an interim senior policy advisor for privacy and civil liberties and has considerable experience in the fields of counterterrorism, IC support to screening and vetting, and protections for U.S. persons in the conduct of intelligence collection and analysis. Prior to her tenure with the ODNI, Julie enjoyed a varied career with the Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser, which included practice in the areas of congressional oversight; human rights law; the law of armed conflict; intelligence; transnational extradition; and counternarcotics programs. She also served as U.S. Embassy Baghdad legal adviser from 2009 to 2010. She clerked for Chief Judge Andrew S. Effron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Iain Robertson
CHIEF OF STAFF
Iain joined the Commission from the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) at the Atlantic Council, where he served for more than five years as Deputy Managing Editor. In that role, he helped manage a large, global team of researchers and oversaw the production of many of the DFRLab’s short- and long-form reports. Prior to his time at the DFRLab, Iain served six years at the White House, where he started with the Office of Presidential Correspondence before transitioning to the Executive Secretariat of the National Security Council. He draws on the latter experience extensively for his role as Chief of Staff with the commission, overseeing its strategic calendar as well as taskings and paper flow to the co-chairs and commissioners. Iain holds a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University, including a Certificate in Nonmarket Strategy, and a Bachelor of the Arts in Media Studies from Carleton College.
Jeremy Butler
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Jeremy joined the Commission from We the Veterans, a non-profit, non-partisan democracy organization where he served as Chief Growth Officer and advocated for civic participation of veterans. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America after joining the staff in 2015 working in various capacities with the fundraising team. In 2018 he transitioned to Chief Operating Officer and in 2019 took over as CEO. Jeremy served on active duty in the Navy from 1999 to 2005 as a Surface Warfare Officer. He transitioned to the Reserves and has remained there since, being currently assigned to the staff of Commander, Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Coming off active duty, Mr. Butler began working for a DC-based government contractor and served in a variety of roles, including work for the Department of Homeland Security, the Joint Staff, and the Department of the Navy. Throughout, he spent several years back on active duty both overseas and in the United States. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and graduated with an International Relations major. Jeremy received his MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.
Pamela G. Faber Shearman
ACTING RESEARCH DIRECTOR
Pamela most recently worked for the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, where she served as a Senior Research Scientist and coordinator of CNA’s Africa Security portfolio. As an experienced research leader, policy analyst, and national security advisor, she has conducted research projects on issues including counterterrorism, security force assistance, women, peace and security, and civilian harm in conflict mitigation. Pamela has designed, directed, and authored numerous research reports for senior government officials within the Department of Defense, State Department, and Intelligence Community. She has also conducted extensive fieldwork on a range of security issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Kenya, Guinea, Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal, and Chad, among other countries. She holds an M.Phil. in International Development from St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, an MSc in International Relations from The London School of Economics, a BA in Political Science from Columbia University, and a BA in History from List College, The Jewish Theological Seminary.
Matthew Gobush
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR
Matt served as Director of Communications for the National Security Council and as Foreign Policy Spokesman and Speechwriter in the Office of the Vice President. Prior to working at The White House, he served as a staff specialist for international and commercial programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. During the Afghanistan War’s initial phases, Matt was Press Secretary for the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee minority staff, and later Director of Communications for Senate Armed Services Committee member Joe Lieberman. Most recently, he was Communications Manager at Exxon Mobil Corporation. During his career, he has been privileged to directly support a sitting President, Vice President, Senator, Congressman, and two Chief Executive Officers, as well as two future U.S. Secretaries of State of different political parties. He has written extensively on foreign policy, military ethics, and veterans affairs, and led the Military Chaplains Just War Education Project for the Episcopal Church. A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Matt and his wife, Gari Lister, have six internationally adopted daughters.
Mariam Jalalzada
SENIOR ADVISOR FOR AFGHAN OUTREACH
In her role as Senior Advisor for Afghan Outreach on the Afghanistan War Commission, Mariam employs her extensive research and field expertise to ensure a comprehensive assessment, taking into account various perspectives, including those of Afghan stakeholders. She has more than 16 years of experience in Afghanistan’s reconstruction landscape, specializing in private sector development, civil society promotion, and citizen empowerment. In her most recent role as Senior Research Analyst at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a U.S. government oversight agency, Mariam contributed to the planning, coordination, and development of lessons learned reports, offering invaluable insights into the complex dynamics of post-conflict development. After graduation from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she earned her Master’s in international development, Mariam traveled to Kabul, her hometown, and worked with numerous international organizations on projects such as community peacebuilding and business entrepreneurship. She has conducted in-depth research covering a wide range of topics, including the effectiveness of programs supporting economic and political participation of communities in the midst of violent conflict. She has observed how communities struggle to sustain livelihoods and repair relationships when shattered by war.
Neha Ansari, PhD, SENIOR ANALYST
Will Bardenwerper, SENIOR WRITER
Catherine “Kate” Bateman, SENIOR ADVISOR
Destini Berry, OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE
Raphael Carland, CHIEF, POLICY AND DIPLOMACY TEAM
Elizabeth Nathan Conrad, CHIEF, INTERVIEWS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT TEAM
Akmal Dawi, SENIOR WRITER
Matt Dawson, SENIOR ANALYST
Edmund J. “EJ” Degen, CHIEF, MILITARY OPERATIONS AND SECURITY FORCES ASSISTANCE TEAM
Dan Elinoff, SENIOR ANALYST
Leah Fiddler, SENIOR ANALYST
Rory Gates, ANALYST
Avery Parsons Grayson, ANALYST
Natalie Hall. SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND ANALYST
Jennifer M. Hazen, PhD, SENIOR ANALYST
Nakissa Jahanbani, PhD, SENIOR ANALYST
Janna Mantua, PhD, SENIOR ANALYST AND INTERVIEWER
Colin McKeague, ANALYST
Eric Minton, CHIEF, WRITING AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Nainika Ashok Paul, ANALYST
Carmella Saia, ANALYST
Harris Samad, SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND ANALYST
Paul Schaffner, ANALYST
Neilesh Shelat, CHIEF, DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Luis Vertiz, SENIOR ANALYST
Adam Wunische, PhD. SENIOR ANALYST
Katherine Zimmerman, SENIOR ANALYST