AWC Announces Leadership Changes: Neilesh Shelat Named Interim Executive Director as Jaime Cheshire Transitions to Senior Advisor Role

Afghanistan War Commission (AWC) Co-Chairs Shamila N. Chaudhary and Dr. Colin F. Jackson today announced the planned transition of Executive Director Jaime Cheshire and the appointment of Neilesh Shelat, currently Team Chief on the AWC professional staff, as interim Executive Director.  Cheshire, who is moving to the private sector, will remain with the Commission as a senior advisor. 

“Jaime has played an immeasurable part in building and leading our world-class research team in achieving our progress to date and in meeting our mandate,” said co-chairs Chaudhary and Jackson.  “We thank her for three years of leadership and her continued service to the Commission as senior advisor.”

“It was a true honor to help launch and lead the Commission, and to work alongside such dedicated commissioners and professional staff on this important mission.  It was personally incredibly cathartic and meaningful,” said Cheshire.  “I am deeply grateful for the trust Shamila and Colin placed in me, and in the opportunity to continue to serve.”

Cheshire’s service as Executive Director of the AWC represents the capstone of a distinguished 27-year career in the federal government in a variety of senior national security roles, including at the Central Intelligence Agency and House Armed Services Committee.  She plans to retire from U.S. Government service next month as she assumes a new position in the private sector, to be announced at a later date.

In selecting Shelat as interim Executive Director, the AWC co-chairs seek to build on the progress Cheshire helped achieve. 

“In his research leadership roles on the Commission staff, Neilesh has been instrumental in our success in collecting invaluable testimony from senior officials who served during the Afghanistan War, and in ensuring our ongoing analysis remains objective, comprehensive and unflinching,” said Chaudhary and Jackson.  “We have complete confidence in his ability to manage a seamless transition and sustain our progress.”

“Since my swearing-in atop an MRAP in Afghanistan in 2009, I have been dedicated to accomplishing the mission our nation has assigned me,” said Shelat. “I am grateful for the opportunity to help complete the mission of the Afghanistan War Commission in this new role, and greatly appreciate the support of Shamila, Colin, Jaime, our commissioners and our staff, who I am honored to lead during this transition.”

Neilesh Shelat has led two of the Commission’s research and analysis teams: Development & Governance, and Policy & Diplomacy.  He has served for eighteen years in the federal government, including senior executive roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including serving as Executive Secretary, as Defeating ISIS Coordinator, and as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization and the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.  He has also served as a Director on the National Security Council, and as adjunct faculty at both George Washington and Georgetown universities.

In support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Shelat deployed to Helmand, Kandahar, Ghazni, Wardak, and Kabul, working alongside U.S., coalition and Afghan military forces as part of Provincial Reconstruction and District Support Teams.  He additionally served as an advisor to the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command.  Previously, he served as a relief worker and a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer.

The Afghanistan War Commission is an independent legislative commission established by Congress in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (Sec. 1094) to assess the 20-year U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.  For detailed information, visit www.afghanistanwarcommission.senate.gov.

The following 16 commissioners were appointed by Congressional leaders on a bipartisan basis: