Mr. Zafar Hashemi is a Senior Counselor at the Embassy of Afghanistan in the United States. Previously he served as Deputy Spokesman of the President of Afghanistan – in this position, he managed and coordinated communications and messaging of the Presidential Palace across the Afghan government and society as well as the international community. Mr. Hashemi is an award-winning journalist, and from 2007-15 he worked for the Afghanistan Service of Voice of America, reporting on Afghan, American and world affairs for radio, television and web in both Farsi and English. From 2006-7, Mr. Hashemi managed public affairs and communications at the Afghanistan Stabilization Program (ASP). Also, from 2004-2006 he managed a UNDP funded project to produce media content about democracy, elections and civic participation in post-9/11 Afghanistan. Mr. Hashemi holds an MA in Public Management from Johns Hopkins University (2015), and a BSc in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC, 2012).