S.F. city agencies ‘manipulated’ Urban Ed Academy bidding process, report finds

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Two San Francisco city departments have been accused of improperly funneling money to and accepting gifts from Urban Ed Academy, a nonprofit founded by a disgraced city contractor, according to a new report from the city controller’s office. 

The improper behavior by the two departments, the Human Rights Commission and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, continued even after the contractor, Dwayne Jones, left the nonprofit and was charged with multiple felonies. This, the report suggests, indicates the misconduct was widespread. 

In 2023, Jones was charged with multiple felonies for allegedly bribing the director of San Francisco’s Community Challenge Grants Program, a program that funds community-led, neighborhood improvement projects. Following those charges, Jones and his affiliated entities were suspended from bidding on or receiving city contracts or grants, and city departments were required to terminate any existing financial relationships with them.

But Urban Ed Academy, which Jones founded in 2012, was not suspended. That, the controller’s office suggested today in its report, was a mistake. The city’s bidding processes were “seemingly manipulated or disregarded with respect to Urban Ed Academy,” which offers education for young boys of color with mentors of similar backgrounds, the office wrote in a statement.  

This manipulation “resulted in irregularities in the award to and oversight of grants to Urban Ed Academy.” The Controller’s Office wrote that the Human Rights Commission and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development were responsible. 

The report found that the Office of Economic and Workforce Development “failed to adequately monitor” Urban Ed Academy’s performance. Despite the nonprofit falling below performance standards, the office increased its grant amount 173 percent, from $473,000 to $1,192,500. 

“HRC and OEWD disregarded the city’s competitive solicitation rules and awarded grants to Urban Ed Academy, despite its significantly lower evaluation scores compared to higher-ranking nonprofits,” the statement from the Controller’s Office said. 

The Human Rights Commission has been mired in scandal in recent months, as has its signature Dream Keeper Initiative, a program directing scores of millions of dollars to Black community programs. 

Specifically, the report found that the Human Rights Commission approved stipends to members of the Dream Keeper Initiative accountability committee without legal authority from the Board of Supervisors, and that committee members were paid outside of the city financial system by a nonprofit that received HRC funding. 

The report also found that Randal Seriguchi, Jr., the executive director of Urban Ed Academy who left in January 2024, was at the same time serving on that committee meant to be “credible messengers” between grantees and the community. He sat on the Community Accountability Committee in 2023, while Urban Ed Academy had multiple active Dream Keeper Initiative-funded grants.

Urban Ed Academy also allegedly gifted Sheryl Davis, the head of the Human Rights Commission, a $5,500 portrait in December 2023, the report found. In January 2024, Davis granted the nonprofit a contract that would pay up to $270,000. 

Davis and the head of the Dream Keeper Initiative, Saidah Leatutufu-Burch, have both stepped down in recent months. Davis was accused earlier of granting large contracts to a nonprofit led by a man she shared a home with. Another nonprofit that received Dream Keeper Initiative funds, Collective Impact, was accused of invoicing expensive dinners, liquor, and travel. 

All city grants with the organization expired or were terminated as of January 2025. Urban Ed Academy, according to today’s announcement, has new leadership and “is fully cooperating with the assessment.”

“The misuse of public dollars is a disservice to the many people and programs that do critical work every day to support our marginalized communities and the people who depend on City resources,” said Controller Greg Wagner. “We must hold individuals, organizations, and City departments accountable as stewards of public funds, without painting all nonprofits with broad strokes. Equity and accountability are two sides of the same coin.”

“When public funding is used for personal gain or unintended purposes and the competitive process is undermined, the community suffers the most,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “To provide grant funding to those who need it most, we must weed out self-dealing and favoritism. The community deserves grant programs that are monitored effectively and operated transparently.”

Today’s report also recaps city funding provided to Jones and his affiliated organizations that total $15.2 million between July 2016 and December 2024, from 11 different city departments or entities.

Jones pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in August 2023 and is currently awaiting trial.

He was also mentioned in prior corruption investigations: In 2020, he was accused of consulting for applicants to a Public Utilities Commission community benefits program he helped create. In 2017, Jones served as a “ratepayer advocate” in the Recology rate-setting process. Recology has admitted to participating in a bribery scheme to increase rates.