The National Security Institute (NSI) is hosting The Mission Generation: Careers, Purpose, and National Security, a book event with NobleReach CEO Arun Gupta designed to convene current students and recent alumni for a focused discussion on navigating careers in an evolving national security landscape.
This program will center on Gupta’s new book, The Mission Generation, which explores how early- and mid-career professionals can build meaningful, mission-driven careers in a period of rapid technological, economic, and geopolitical change. The event will emphasize practical guidance on career decision-making, transitions across sectors, and how to build a resilient and impactful career in national security. Following the event, students, alumni, and the broader NSI community are invited to attend a networking reception to engage directly with peers and continue the conversation.
Date: October 13, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
Location: George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, Hazel Hall #121
Lunch Provided
Speakers:
- Jamil N. Jaffer — Founder and Executive Director, National Security Institute
- Arun Gupta — Chief Executive Officer, NobleReach
- Erin Joe — Special Counsel, Wiley Rein LLP; NSI CTC Visiting Fellow
Jamil Jaffer
Jamil N. Jaffer is the Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute (NSI) at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where he also serves as an Assistant Professor of Law, Director of the National Security Law and Policy Program, and Director of the Cyber, Intelligence, and National Security LL.M. Program. He teaches courses on counterterrorism, cybersecurity, intelligence, surveillance, and national security law, including a summer program abroad with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Jamil is also affiliated with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and was previously a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Jamil is a Venture Partner at Paladin Capital Group, focusing on dual-use national security technologies, and serves on the boards of RangeForce, Tozny, and the advisory boards of U.S. Strategic Metals, Constella Intelligence, Beacon Global Strategies, and Duco. He is the Managing Director of Trigraph Caveat Capital and actively engaged with numerous civic, policy, and nonprofit organizations including the Global Cyber Alliance, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Greater Washington Board of Trade, and the Reagan Institute Strategy Group. He has also held board roles with the Center for Intelligence Policy and Speech First, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International Law and National Security Practice Group.
From 2015 to 2021, Jamil was a senior executive at IronNet Cybersecurity, working directly for former NSA Director Gen. (Ret.) Keith Alexander and former Zscaler COO Bill Welch. He helped grow the company from an early-stage startup through VC funding rounds and its public listing. In government, he served as Chief Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Chairman Bob Corker, and as Senior Counsel to the House Intelligence Committee under Chairman Mike Rogers. He played a lead role in authoring the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, AUMF proposals, and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Jamil also served in the Bush Administration as Associate Counsel to the President and as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, where he led major initiatives in cybersecurity, FISA litigation, and counterterrorism.
Earlier in his career, Jamil served in the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy, in private practice at Kellogg Huber, and on Capitol Hill with Congressman Bob Goodlatte. He clerked for Judge Edith H. Jones on the Fifth Circuit, then-Judge Neil Gorsuch on the Tenth Circuit, and Justice Gorsuch on the U.S. Supreme Court. He has testified before Congress on cybersecurity and China, advised the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and appeared in major media outlets including CNN, Fox News, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal. Jamil holds degrees from UCLA (B.A., cum laude), the University of Chicago Law School (J.D., with honors), and the U.S. Naval War College (M.A., with distinction).
Arun Gupta
Arun Gupta is a venture capitalist, co-author of The Mission Generation, the national bestseller Venture Meets Mission, and CEO of NobleReach Foundation, where he works to rekindle a spirit of national service through innovation and entrepreneurship. After more than two decades investing in companies at the intersection of technology and national security, he enjoys working with entrepreneurs building for impact and teaching the next generation how to do the same.
At Stanford and Georgetown, where he has received multiple faculty teaching awards, Arun challenges students to see entrepreneurship not just as a path to success, but as a platform for purpose. He speaks at national forums, writes in leading journals, and serves on advisory boards shaping the future of tech, policy, and innovation. He holds a BS and MS in engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
The son of a Navy engineer who served over forty years, Arun has lived in Washington, D.C., for nearly five decades, where he coaches youth sports and mentors young entrepreneurs. Happily married to Dr. Anjali Mehta Gupta for 30 years, they have three children who inspire his belief that ambition and impact aren’t competing ideals, but complementary forces unified by purpose and essential to shaping a better future.
Erin Joe
Erin Joe is a Special Counsel at Wiley Rein LLP. Erin counsels clients on cybersecurity risk mitigation, incident readiness and response, crisis communications and management, evolving technologies, government investigations, congressional and regulatory inquiries, and M&A-related cyber due diligence. Drawing on over two decades of leadership, she advises clients on governance, compliance, and security strategies that address the legal, operational, and reputational dimensions of cyber risk. She frequently engages with senior executives across the public and private sectors to align legal, operational, and security priorities.
Erin previously held multiple leader roles at Mandiant, Google Cloud, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), bringing front-line experience to address Wiley’s client needs. Her government roles included serving as Director of the interagency Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Deputy Assistant Director of the Cyber Division, where her work significantly accelerated federal cyber threat responses and shaped national-level crisis response and readiness. She led national and international cyber operations, developed the FBI’s first comprehensive cross-program strategy to counter hostile cyber activity by nation-states, and orchestrated global responses to high-profile cyber incidents affecting critical infrastructure and Fortune 500 companies. For over 20 years, Erin has collaborated with private- sector companies, including defense contractors, building best practices to enhance their security and resilience. She has informed and advised the National Security Council (NSC), the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), the White House, and Congress. Erin has also chaired interagency boards guiding U.S. government cyber strategy, served on private industry advisory boards for risk and cyber organizations, and shared insights as a thought leader and speaker at over 100 industry events and engagements.