Team
JAIME CHESHIRE
Executive Director
Jaime Cheshire is Executive Director of the Afghanistan War Commission, a position she assumed on July 26, 2023.
Previously, Jaime served as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s Executive Secretary, where she led both the ExecSec Action Center and the CIA Operations Center from 2021-2023. Prior to ExecSec, Jaime served as Director of the Office of Congressional Affairs where she advised CIA senior leadership on all legislative strategy and oversight matters. She is a career Senior Intelligence Service officer and recipient of both the President Rank Award and Director’s Award for her Agency service.
Before joining the CIA, Jaime served for 17 years on Capitol Hill including eight years as a professional staff member and 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.
A native of Connecticut, Jaime holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and served as a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board. She completed her lifelong goal of a 2,200 mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2021.
JULIE B. MARTIN
General Counsel
Julie Martin is the General Counsel of the Afghanistan War Commission.
Previously, 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, and served as an interim senior policy advisor for privacy and civil liberties.
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 counter-narcotics programs, and service as U.S. Embassy Baghdad legal adviser from 2009-2010. She clerked for Chief Judge Andrew S. Effron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
A longtime DC resident, Julie holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
DR. JONATHAN SCHRODEN
Research Director
Dr. Jonathan Schroden is the Research Director of the Afghanistan War Commission.
Previously, Dr. Schroden served as strategic advisor to U.S. Central Command, the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and deployed or traveled to the country 13 times since 2008. Most recently, Dr. Schroden worked as the Director of the Countering Threats and Challenges Program and the Special Operations Program at the Center for Naval Analyses, where his work has supported U.S. government efforts to better understand and counter state and non-state threats and challenges. His portfolio includes work on counterterrorism, security cooperation, irregular, proxy, and information warfare, as well as the challenges facing special operations forces today and in the future. Dr. Schroden is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University, where he lectures on U.S. Special Operations. He previously served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Institute of Peace's Afghanistan Study Group and as an adjunct scholar with the U.S. Military Academy's Modern War Institute. Dr. Schroden holds PhD and MS degrees from Cornell University.
JEREMY BUTLER
Director of Operations
Jeremy Butler is the Director of Operations of the Afghanistan War Commission.
Mr. Butler joins 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 IAVA after joining the staff in 2015 where he worked in various capacities with the fundraising team. In 2018, he transitioned to Chief Operating Officer, and in 2019 took over as CEO. Mr. Butler 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 U.S. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, IL, and graduated with an International Relations major. Mr. Butler later received his M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.
MATTHEW GOBUSH
Strategic Communications Advisor
Matthew Gobush is the Strategic Communications Advisor of the Afghanistan War Commission.
Previously, Mr. Gobush 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, Mr. Gobush 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, Mr. Gobush 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, Mr. Gobush and his wife Gari Lister have six internationally adopted daughters and live in Urbanna, Virginia.
MARIAM JALALZADA
Senior Advisor for Afghan Outreach
Ms. Jalalzada is Senior Advisor for Afghan Outreach on the Afghanistan War Commission. In this role, she employs her extensive research and field expertise to ensure a comprehensive assessment, taking into account various perspectives, including those of Afghan stakeholders.
Ms. Jalalzada has over sixteen 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, Ms. Jalalzada 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 Ms. Jalalzada earned her Masters in international development, she traveled to Kabul, her hometown, where she 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.
PAMELA G. FABER SHEARMAN
Deputy Research Director
Ms. Shearman is Deputy Research Director of the Afghanistan War Commission.
Ms. Shearman 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.
Ms. Shearman 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 others countries.
Ms. Shearman 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. She lives in Northern Virginia with her family.