COVID Blacklist: Afsaneh Beschloss
Banks, big oil, and presidents, oh my! And a husband who suggested executing POTUS45.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for continuing to support my series of COVID-19 Reports. Particular thanks to my two paid subscribers! I am very thankful for your contributions, and want to take the opportunity to invite others who feel that my work is beneficial and worthwhile to consider contributing $5/month to help me sustain the effort. Regardless of whether you’re a paid subscriber, free subscriber, or just checking things out, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have introduced the new title of The COVID Blacklist, modelled after one of my favourite shows (three guesses which one). I did this because I realized that the more features I write about specific individuals, the more this Substack will turn into a list of names — and frankly, describing it as a “blacklist” more or less accurately represents the nature of the (potential) crimes inflicted on humanity during the course of the COVID-19 public health crisis.
This entry will continue my new series investigating the Board of Directors for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. For the first entry, see Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg.
Without further ado, let’s learn about one of her fellow Gavi board members!

Afsaneh Beschloss
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss is an Iranian-American investment banker. She has advised governments, central banks, and regulatory agencies on global public policy and financial policy as well as energy. As with her colleague Peggy, Afsaneh has wined and dined with Presidents including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and was a large supporter of Barack Obama.
Beschloss was born in Iran in the 1950's. Her father, Mohammad Mashayekhi, was a prominent education reformer and president of a national teacher training university during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Mohammad was initially barred from leaving the country following the overthrow of the shah during the 1979 revolution, but Beschloss’s family eventually made it to the United States of America in the 1980s, settling in the Washington, D.C., area.1
She is married to Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton invited the Beschlosses to attend a dinner for the British Prime Minister. Some years later, President George W. Bush also invited them to a White House dinner for Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla.
As I’m finishing this up, look at what Mr. Beschloss just tweeted. About Donald Trump.
Okay.
Education
Beschloss received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economics from the University of Kent, and her MPhil (Honours) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she also taught international trade and economic development.2

Career
JP Morgan Chase (1979-1981)
After studying in the United Kingdom, she began her career in the United States of America at JP Morgan Chase in Corporate Finance.3
World Bank (1981-2001)
Motivated to contribute more meaningfully, she soon joined the World Bank. Here, Beschloss rose quickly through the ranks and developed direct and deep knowledge of the Global South (referring broadly to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania). She began to focus on energy and infrastructure in the early 1980s. She spent time based in Senegal and then went on to establish the World Bank’s Natural Gas Group, investing in gas and power projects that aim to replace coal in emerging markets.4
As an increasingly senior and successful investment leader, she became Director and Chief Investment Officer in 1997. She was responsible for the investment of the World Bank’s assets as well as external assets from the International Monetary Fund, central banks and sovereign funds. From 1999-2001, she served as Vice President and Treasurer on behalf of the Group.
Global Leaders for Tomorrow (1994)
Beschloss was a member of the 1994 class of the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders for Tomorrow.5
Fun fact: Guess who else was in the 1994 class?
None other than Jean Charest, former premier of the Canadian province of Québec, and current candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.6 And here I was thinking Pierre Pollievre was the guy to worry about for his WEF ties!
Not just Charest, though. Also in the class was Sheila Copps, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. Sheila is also the older sister of Brenda Copps, who served as the President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in 2020.
The Carlyle Group (2001-2003)
Leveraging her experience in investment and asset management, Beschloss left the World Bank and joined The Carlyle Group in 2001. Here, she served as Managing Director & CEO of Carlyle Asset Management.7
Fun fact: Carlyle Group co-founder and co-executive chairman David M. Rubenstein is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a leading member of the World Economic Forum, among other influential think-tanks. He also served in President Jimmy Carter’s administration. He was an original signatory to The Giving Pledge, a list of billionaires who committed to giving away most of their wealth.8
RockCreek (2003-present)
Beschloss is the founder and CEO of RockCreek, a global investment and advisory firm serving foundations, endowments, pension funds and other institutional investors. She created the firm through a management buyout, buying 60% of the business in 2003. Under Beschloss’ guidance, RockCreek manages approximately $14 billion and leverages a team with experience across relevant sectors to bring a deep understanding of global markets to investment decisions. She very recently bought back RockCreek Group from Wells Fargo Asset Management.9
RockCreek's portfolio includes Apeel, BioAge, BYJU'S, ChargePoint, Devoted Health, Generate Capital, MasterClass, and Meituan.10
PBS (2012-present)
Beschloss has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and chairman of the board for the PBS Foundation.11
Author’s note: This is a perfect example of a person in a leading role in both health and media, explaining how messaging can be made to align so closely. Gavi being so singularly focused on vaccines would find great benefit in influencing PBS, one of the largest broadcasters in the US, to promote pro-vaccine narratives.
American Red Cross (2013-present)
Beschloss was elected to the Board of Governors of American Red Cross in 2013.12
Question: Could this be an example of how various philanthropic “health” ventures can manufacture consensus on issues such as COVID-19 vaccines, by sharing board members?
World Resources Institute (2013-present)
Beschloss is a member of the World Resources Institute Board of Global Directors.13
Fun fact: Top donors to the WRI in 2021 include our good friends at the Bezos Earth Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BlackRock, Facebook, Ford Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Google, Pfizer, Rockefeller Foundation, World Economic Forum, and a bunch of others.14
Institute for Advanced Study (2015-present)
Beschloss was appointed as a trustee for the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in June 2015.15
Fun fact: Turns out the IAS is a very popular clubhouse for some very powerful people, since at least 2003.16
The United States Government has several significant agencies partnered with the institute, including DARPA, the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Academies, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF); National Security Agency (NSA); and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
Big corporations and CEOs with big money are also current or farmer partners, a list which includes Amazon (and Jeff Bezos himself), BlackRock, Bristol-Myers Squibb, David Rockefeller (the man himself), David M. Rubenstein (wait, didn’t we just read about him in the Carlyle Group section? Hmm…), Elsevier, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, IBM, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Microsoft, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Roche, Vanguard, and a bunch of banks.
Foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving, and others. We can include the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in here.
Foreign governments also like this place a lot, offering up the Austrian Academy of Sciences; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; European Commission; European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); European Research Council; French National Centre for Scientific Research; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; Swedish Research Council; and even Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Last but not least, Beschloss herself is a donor to the IAS… alongside fellow Gavi board member and COVID Blacklister, Margaret Hamburg. This woman sure gets around!
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2018-present)
Beschloss is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation alongside Anthony S. Fauci.17
Woah. Okay, so that’s now two Gavi board members in a row with a direct connection to Fauci. As you may recall, Margaret Hamburg worked under Fauci as his second-in-command at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) early on in her career. With Beschloss sharing a board seat in common with the man, we’re 2 for 2 in the Find Fauci’s Friends game (patent pending).
The foundation isn’t new, having been founded in 1996 out of the assets of Doris Duke, a tobacco heiress. I’m not sure at this point when Fauci came onboard, but the foundation awarded a number of grants in the COVID-19 era. This means that at least two very influential “global health” leaders, Fauci and Beschloss, were in charge of deciding who should or should not receive “emergency response” funding, likely contingent on the recipient complying with public health directives such as vaccine mandates, masks, distancing, etc. Fauci et al had the ability to leverage compliance out of seemingly unrelated organizations, including in such a field as theatre and child services.
Here’s a sampling of the organizations who received funding during the COVID-19 era:18
American University ($45,000)
Boston Medical Center
Children’s Bureau of Southern California
Children’s Hospital Boston
Childrens Outing Association
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Duke University
El-Hibri Foundation
Global Detroit
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska
Mat-Su Health Foundation
Medical University Hospital Authority
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
National Medical Association
Nature Conservancy
New York Academy of Medicine
New Yorkers for Children
Research Foundation of the City University of New York
Somali Family Service of San Diego
Trust for Public Land
UCLA
UCSC
University of Iowa College of Medicine + Foundation
University of Michigan
University of Washington
Center for Global Development (2018-present)
Beschloss is a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Global Development.19
Fun fact: Current funders include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dustin Moskovitz’ Open Philanthropy, Imperial College London, Rockefeller Foundation, Eric Schmidt (of Google)’s Schmidt Futures, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, Gates Policy Initiative, Wellcome Trust, Larry Summers (WEF Young Global Leader), World Bank, and the USAID Alumni Association.20
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2018-present)
In February 2018, Beschloss was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.21
National Geographic Society (2019-present)
In 2019, Beschloss joined the Board of Trustees for the National Geographic Society.22
Fun fact: Ah yes, everyone’s favourite nature magazine! Little did you know, National Geographic is “Brought To You By” Pfizer and BioNTech.23 Yup. Seriously. Also Alibaba, Amgen, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bush Family Charitable Fund, Google, IBM, Merck, National Science Foundation, NVIDIA, Oracle, PayPal, and World Fuel Services.24
Georgetown University (2020-present)
Beschloss was appointed to the Georgetown University Board of Directors in October 2020.25
Blum Center for Developing Economies (2020-present)
In April 2020, Beschloss was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley.26
The Blum Center is partnered with a number of powerful institutions including the Brookings Institution, the Center for Effective Global Action, Clinton Global Initiative University, the Inter-American Development Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).27
Bretton Woods Committee (2020-present)
Beschloss is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bretton Woods Committee, where she is also on the Global Advisory Council and Co-Chair of the Future of Finance Working Group.28
Donors to the Committee include a whack-load of banks, but the real whoppers are BlackRack, Soros Fund Management (plus George Soros himself!)29 30
Members of the Committee include the WEF-associated Santander Bank, McKinsey Global Institute and the United States Chamber of Commerce.31
Oh, and Paul Martin (former Prime Minister of Canada), as well as representatives from the Atlantic Council, Black & Veatch, the above-mentioned Center for Global Development, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Council on Foreign Relations, European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, OPEC, Rothschild & Co, the United States Departments of Defense, Energy and Treasury, former US Senators, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum.32
Cool.
Council on Foreign Relations (2020-present)
Beschloss is a member of the Board of Directors for the Council on Foreign Relations.33
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (2021-present)
Beschloss is a board member for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.34
The Rockefeller Foundation (2022-present)
In March 2022, Beschloss was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation.35
Other Affiliations
Beschloss has written articles published by Chatham House, the Globe and Mail, and the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies via Oxford University Press, among others.36 37 38
Center for Development Economics
Beschloss is on the Visiting Committee for the Center for Development Economics at Williams College.39
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Beschloss formerly served as a trustee to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.40
Delivering Alpha Investor Summit
Beschloss is a member of the Advisory Board for CNBC's 2022 Delivering Alpha Investor Summit.41 The sponsor for the event is Nuveen.
Ford Foundation
Beschloss formerly served on the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the Investment Committee and participated in the Sustainability Advisory Committee.42
International Economic Forum of the Americas
Beschloss co-chaired the 2018 Conference of Montreal for the International Economic Forum of the Americas.43
Sponsors and partners for that year included the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), Air Canada, Bloomberg, BMO Financial Group, BNP Paribas, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the City of Montreal, Cogeco, Concordia University, Dentons, Desjardins, Engie, Export Development Canada, fDi Intelligence, Finance Montreal, Financial Times, GardaWorld, Globe and Mail, Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, Government of Quebec, HEC Montreal, Hydro Québec, Institut du Nouveau Monde (New World Institute), the Inter-American Development Bank, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Investment Quebec, LeaderXXchange, McGill University, Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Power Corporation of Canada, Sanofi, SNC-Lavalin, the Task Force for Global Health, École de technologie supérieure at University of Quebec, UQAM’s School of Management, VIA Rail Canada, World Energy Council, and the Young Leaders' Circle of the International Economic Forum of the Americas.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the program.
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Beschloss has served as a member of the Finance Committee for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.44
Shell
Beschloss worked at Shell International Group Planning in London, England.45
University of Oxford
Beschloss has taught international trade and economic development at Oxford University.46
Urban Institute
Beschloss is a former Trustee for the Urban Institute.47
World Bank Live
Beschloss was a speaker at World Bank Live on April 13, 2019.48
World Economic Forum
Beschloss is an agenda contributor and member of the World Economic Forum.49
World Wide Web Foundation
Beschloss is former chair of the World Wide Web Foundation.50
Politics
Beschloss is a big supporter of the Democratic party in the US, Barack Obama and liberal organizations. In 2008, she contributed $25,000 to the Obama Victory Fund, $10,000 to the Democratic National Committee and $2,300 to Obama for America.51
Awards and Recognition
Beschloss is the recipient of the 2020 Great Immigrant and Great American Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.52
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss. (2020). Carnegie Corporation of New York. https://archive.ph/NkV55
Afsaneh Beschloss. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/afsanehbeschloss/
Ramiz, M. (2020, August 5). Afsaneh Beschloss guides investment in greener futures. Hayat Life. https://archive.ph/2gGNf
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss. (2019, April 13). World Bank Live. https://archive.ph/WS8s3
Class of 1994. (1994). World Economic Forum. https://web.archive.org/web/20160816174540/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GLT_ClassOf1994.pdf
Western Standard. (2022, April 19). Jean Charest and the WEF. YouTube.
Afsaneh Beschloss to Join The Carlyle Group: World Bank Executive to Head Firm’s New Asset Management Group. (2001, April 16). The Carlyle Group. https://archive.ph/q3Kdp
David M. Rubenstein. (2020). Council on Foreign Relations. https://archive.ph/LPTvN
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2021). RockCreek. https://archive.ph/i3T5p
Portfolio. (2021). RockCreek. https://www.therockcreekgroup.com/portfolio/
Bartheld, E. (2020, September 30). PBS Foundation Board of Directors Elects Afsaneh Beschloss as Chair. PBS. https://archive.ph/jpXfd
American Red Cross. (2013, June 5). Red Cross Announces Four New Members of its Board of Governors. PRNewsWire. https://archive.ph/jQ97c
Afsaneh M. Beschloss. (2022). World Resources Institute. https://archive.ph/AO6U3
Dasgupta, A. (2022). From Commitments to Action: Annual Report 2021 (pp. 38–47). World Resources Institute. https://web.archive.org/web/20220730190344/https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-04/wri-annual-report-2021.pdf
Altman, A. (2015, June 30). Institute for Advanced Study Appoints Three New Trustees - Press Release. Institute for Advanced Study. https://archive.ph/QwPl2
Institute for Advanced Study. (2022, August 3). Campfire Wiki. https://www.campfire.wiki/doku.php?id=institute_for_advanced_study
Board of Trustees. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://archive.ph/tY6Dq
Grants and funds from social impact bond proceeds. (2021, June 30). Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20220419172250/http://www.ddcf.org/siteassets/who-we-are/financials--governance/ddcf-bond-grants-approved-thru-06-30-21.pdf
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2022). Center for Global Development | Ideas to Action. https://archive.ph/GtCQv
Thank You to Our Funders! (2021, December 31). Center for Global Development | Ideas to Action. https://archive.ph/Ri2Kg
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute appoints six new members to Board of Trustees. (2018, February 21). Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA. https://archive.ph/9qBtU
Afsaneh Beschloss and Kevin J. Maroni Join National Geographic Society Board of Trustees. (2019, April 2). National Geographic Society Newsroom. https://archive.ph/yietP
Bulik, B. S. (2021, February 24). “Mission Possible”: Pfizer and BioNTech star in their own vaccine discovery movie. Fierce Pharma. https://web.archive.org/web/20220531064700/https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/mission-possible-pfizer-and-biontech-star-vaccine-discovery-movie
2016 Annual Report Donor List. National Geographic Society. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220510054615/https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/file/2016_Annual_Report_DONOR_LIST_FINAL.pdf
DC Resident Named to Georgetown University’s Board of Directors. (2020, October 16). Georgetown University. https://archive.ph/tZsbh
Blum Center Welcomes New Board Members Michelle Nunn and Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss. (2020, April 9). Blum Center for Developing Economies. https://archive.ph/evqJK
Collaborations. (2021). Blum Center for Developing Economies. https://archive.ph/qHQOy
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2022). The Bretton Woods Committee. https://archive.ph/aX0iM
Distinguished Giving Society. (2022). The Bretton Woods Committee. https://archive.ph/RYxNX
Bretton Woods@75 Society. (2022). The Bretton Woods Committee. https://archive.ph/dlVLf
Organizational Members. (2022). The Bretton Woods Committee. https://archive.ph/I7qdJ
Individual Members. (2022). The Bretton Woods Committee. https://web.archive.org/web/20220628052724/https://www.brettonwoods.org/view/individual-members?name=&order=field_affiliation&sort=asc
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss. (2022). Council on Foreign Relations. https://archive.ph/GIOYF
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2020, January 27). Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. https://archive.ph/RcLQ2
Chang, A. (2022, March 15). The Rockefeller Foundation announces Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss joins its Board of Trustees. The Rockefeller Foundation. https://archive.ph/FHVq4
Beschloss, A. (2021, October 27). Can the G20 agree a global carbon price? Chatham House. https://archive.ph/NLUnv
Beschloss, A. (2018, June 10). Business must take up the fight against inequality. The Globe and Mail. https://archive.ph/Klcg4
The Economics of Natural Gas, Pricing, Planning & Policy. (2011). Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. https://www.oxfordenergy.org/shop/the-economics-of-natural-gas-pricing-planning-policy/
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2018, June). Center for Development Economics at Williams College. https://web.archive.org/web/20200924205931/https://cde.williams.edu/files/2018/06/Afsaneh-Beschloss.pdf
Ibid.
Delivering Alpha. CNBC Events. Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://archive.ph/38CXe
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss. (2022). World Economic Forum. https://archive.ph/DUitA
A new globalisation: Managing uncertainty (p. 11). (2018). International Economic Forum of the Americas. https://web.archive.org/web/20220626150357/https://forum-americas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/programmeMontre%CC%81alang2018v5.pdf
Rockefeller, S. C., & Heintz, S. B. (2002). 2002 Annual Report (p. 3). Rockefeller Brothers Fund. https://web.archive.org/web/20220626232655/https://www.rbf.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/2002-AR-web-optimized.pdf
Afsaneh Beschloss. (2021). RFK Human Rights. https://archive.ph/bj9l2
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Afsaneh Beschloss - Agenda Contributor. (2022). World Economic Forum. https://archive.ph/9VoLJ
World Wide Web Foundation Appoints Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss as New Chair. (2015, October 30). World Wide Web Foundation. https://archive.ph/5CuPU
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss - $12,300 in Political Contributions for 2008. (2022). Campaign Money. https://archive.ph/kUaKe
Ibid.