On Sept. 12, 2024, the director of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission, Sheryl Davis, received a call from a reporter.
That morning, Davis opened her phone to find that the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Standard had each published damning stories: One revealed that Davis had spent more than $10,000 on a home rental for her interns during a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, and the other reported that $1.5 million in Human Rights Commission grants had been directed to the nonprofit Collective Impact.
According to voting and DMV records, Davis shared a home and a car with Collective Impact’s director, James Spingola. It was an immediate scandal.
Less than 12 hours later, Davis received another call — from then-Mayor London Breed, a longtime personal friend. By the end of the day, Davis had resigned, abruptly terminating eight years atop the Human Rights Commission.
Since then, Davis’ life has not been the same. Her financial decision-making over nearly a decade, along with her personal relationships, have been dissected under a very public microscope, and what’s been found has been ruinous.
Now, in addition to a probe conducted by the city attorney, Davis is facing a criminal investigation by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
Since her departure from her post last year, Davis has been largely quiet about the accusations against her, including newly surfaced findings from City Attorney David Chiu’s investigation into Davis that funds awarded to her housemate’s nonprofit were used to pay for her son’s tuition.
Her attorney, Tony Brass, has stated that Davis always acted in good faith and tried her best to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
Davis sat down with Mission Local earlier this year, and she told a similar story: An overworked public servant tried to avoid making mistakes, but had possibly made some along the way.
In Davis’ version of the story, however, she’s an easy target — a “scapegoat,” she said, for defunding the Dream Keeper Initiative, a program Davis started with Breed and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton to support Black-led organizations.
Davis said she now regrets leaving her position at Breed’s behest.
Mayor Daniel Lurie rekindled the Dream Keeper Initiative this year after funding was frozen pending investigation by Breed, but with far less investment than before.
For many organizations, especially ones centered on the arts, funding from the Dream Keeper Initiative was a lifeline. Many nonprofit leaders who have lost their grants since Davis resigned blame her for a scandal they had nothing to do with. Some may be forced to close their doors.
“Why are we being punished?” asked Madeline Lim, director of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Program.
Lim learned that funding for the Dream Keeper Initiative would be curtailed in an article published in the wake of the scandal in September, evaporating half of her budget.
“We were horrified and devastated,” said Lim. “We don’t know if we’ll make it through the end of the year.”
The Human Rights Commission has since been merged with the Department on the Status of Women, which also faced its share of scandal, and will now be known as the Agency on Human Rights.
The newly combined agency will operate with a budget of approximately $28 million, a $17 million reduction and a cut of almost 40 percent to the Human Rights Commission’s prior budget.
Davis sat in the corner of a coffee shop in May, her face slightly hidden behind her large, characteristically thick-framed colored glasses.
“It’s been a challenging time,” Davis said in a barely audible tone, nursing a cup of coffee. “Everything’s a reminder of this mistake.”
Upwards of 40 articles have been published on Davis since last year as new accusations continue to surface. In March, a suspension order published by the City Attorney’s Office seeking the disbarment of Collective Impact investigated the relationship between Davis and the nonprofit.
It reports that Davis not only had a known conflict of interest with Collective Impact, but that the nonprofit used city grants for excessive purchases on Davis’ behalf.
Funding was used to book a performance by the singer Goapale at a launch party for Davis’ children’s book, “Free to Sing;” nearly $50,000 was paid by Collective Impact to transport and accommodate Davis and Spingola and upgrade flights to a conference at Martha’s Vineyard, and roughly half of the booking costs for Davis’ podcast, “Sunday Candy,” was paid for in city grants, along with $19,000 towards the college tuition of Davis’ son.
When asked about the allegations, Davis shook her head. She dismisses the claims as “mostly false.” Davis attributed flight upgrades to “baggage upgrades” to carry more luggage on flights and argues that she secured more funding at a philanthropic conference at Martha’s Vineyard than the trip was worth.
She claims she knew nothing about her son’s tuition for graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles, and didn’t sign off on it — his tuition was funded through an educational grant provided by Collective Impact. The cap on tuition payments through the grant is $5,000 per student per year.
“Now, there’s so many different allegations,” said Davis. “There’s the conflict of interest, but then some of the other things are just the most … I can’t even think of how to respond to the allegations of bribery. Like, really? They hired someone to perform at an event, and that’s a bribe from me? If you really unpack it, it doesn’t even make sense.”
Davis said she only learns of new allegations when a reporter calls her.
“I just wish it would stop,” said Davis. “The only time I learn about this stuff is when a reporter calls me and says there’s a report coming out … How do they know about it? I get no due process, not even a right to know.”
Over the course of Davis’ interview with Mission Local, she did not admit to any wrongdoing; any mistake she attributed to herself — namely, not disclosing the conflict of interest — she excused as a misunderstanding of the rules.
But the City Attorney’s office sees things differently: In a statement to Mission Local, the City Attorney’s Office pointed toward the March suspension order, which states that Davis was required to report any gifts given to her by a grantee, and failed to do so.
“She was well aware of her ethical and legal obligations,” said Jen Kwart, the office’s spokesperson.
Davis doesn’t remember if she signed a conflict-of-interest policy. She said she had little time to focus on the rules. “I think I’m going to call myself a failed bureaucrat,” laughed Davis. “I was too focused on the people, but not on the rules.”
Between sleepless nights, routinely logging on between midnight and 2 a.m. to fulfill administrative, financial, and programming duties, she said she sometimes signed grants on DocuSign without paying much attention, but that she “kept asking for options not to touch [Collective Impact].”
In May, Davis acknowledged a conflict of interest between her and Spingola, the director of Collective Impact, with whom she shared an address in the spring of 2021.
Davis argues that her close friendship with Spingola was “widely known,” and she didn’t know she had to report it. “I wish someone would have told me, ‘you have to actually write it down and formally do it,’” said Davis.
Davis did, however, sign one conflict-of-interest form — but not one disclosing her relationship with Spingola. In October 2022, Davis submitted a delegation of signing authority, releasing her form deciding on grants involving Collective Impact, but only on the basis that Davis used to be the head of Collective Impact herself.
By this time, however, Davis had authorized nearly $1.5 million in grants from the Human Rights Commission to Collective Impact, signing seven contracts with the nonprofit and approving 27 payments between Dec. 23, 2019, and July 25, 2023.
Davis was advised that her prior position at Collective Impact was “not a legal conflict of interest,” Kwart said, and that it was unnecessary to sign away her role in the grant-making process if she used to serve as the nonprofit’s director.
Still, Davis and her lawyer have pointed to the October 2022 delegation as evidence that Davis tried to avoid making decisions involving Collective Impact. She said she asked to sign it long before October 2022.
But Kwart said that Davis’ relationship with Spingola was by no means “widely known,” and that in the four ethics trainings she completed throughout her tenure at the Human Rights Commission, she should have been aware that living with Spingola was a conflict of interest.
Though Davis declined to provide details on the nature of their relationship, she did say that it was complicated. In May, she oscillated between arguing their relationship was “no secret,” to saying that she wanted to keep their relationship, and their living situation, private.
At the time, she said, Spingola was very ill, and didn’t want his illness to become public knowledge, which could not be confirmed by publishing time. Davis said she worried that if she let it be known that they were sharing an address, she would have to explain why: That she was caring for him.
“People keep wanting to paint it as black and white, but relationships are more complicated than that,” said Davis. Spingola, she said, helped her through a difficult time in her life, and she was helping him.
In the eight years that Davis was the director of the Human Rights Commission, the outfit grew quickly, and so did its financial reach. The amount of money it was able to award grew from less than $3 million, with a staff of fewer than 10 people, to a budget of more than $20 million and a fivefold increase in staff.
Davis said she “begged” with the city during each budget cycle for a Chief Financial Director, a deputy director, or some administrative staff — anyone to alleviate some of the financial decision-making.
But Davis said that every year, she received pushback. She recalls bursting into tears at a budget meeting. “I’m human,” Davis said. “I needed support.”
Today, there are now more than 50 staff members at the Human Rights Commission, and a deputy director. With the merger and cuts to the budget in July, the Human Rights Commission is facing a small number of layoffs, about six staff members.
But overall, the number of staff at the Human Rights Commission is much larger than when Davis started. Davis said that the growth in staffing is to make sure the mistakes she made never happen again.
While Davis served as the director of the Human Rights Commission, her role in founding the Dream Keeper Initiative and in supporting grassroots community groups through the pandemic, was significant, though she often kept a low profile.
Now, her name has been marred by this scandal — and her relationship to Spingola. Many who have benefitted from Davis’ work, and now, receive less grant funding than they did before, blame “corruption” in San Francisco politics for the opportunities they have lost.
All grants that were chosen by the Human Rights Commission were frozen and either re-awarded or rescinded. The grants are scored and chosen through the city’s request-for-proposal process; Davis insists she didn’t select them.
“It’s easy to scapegoat me, this former administrator,” said Davis. “But I didn’t select them, and I didn’t score them.”
The impact to Black-led organizations, particularly in arts and culture, has had severe consequences. “It’s arts and culture, mental health programming, food programming, programming for seniors. I mean, even the programs … It literally is hitting everyone,” Davis said.
Often, Davis receives messages and phone calls from those who have lost funding. Throughout the interview, Davis often fidgeted, and checked her phone. In April, she recalls receiving a call from a woman in tears, demanding to know why her contract has been canceled because of Davis’ mistakes after seeing one of the many articles written on the accusations against the former director.
“That’s what people are understanding,” Davis said. “‘If you did something wrong, why am I being penalized?’” she recalled her asking.
Now, Davis said she regrets resigning. Perhaps if she had stayed, she mused in May, and asked for a full investigation, funding for the Dream Keeper Initiative would not have been lost, and her work at the organization after eight years would have been preserved.
At the time, Davis said she thought she could just walk away, and that her work could live on after her with another director at the helm.
“I was devastated,” Davis said, when she learned that funding for the Human Rights Commission was cut, breaking into tears.
“At this point, my whole life has been doing this work … I thought if I resigned, then they would just move on, and the program would move forward. Instead, they used my resignation to dismantle everything. That’s probably my biggest regret, that I didn’t stay and fight.”
Davis said she didn’t want to distract from Breed’s election run, so as soon as her friend asked her to resign, Davis agreed.
“It was hard,” Davis said. “I had known her before she was elected. We had worked together in community. I think it was hard for her, too.” But Davis said that if anyone else had asked her to resign, if it had been Ed Lee or Mark Farrell, she wouldn’t have done it.
Her union told her to rescind her resignation, but Davis said that, in the moment, after so much public scrutiny, she couldn’t do it.
“I just broke down,” Davis said. “I couldn’t take another hit, I couldn’t take another article. If I rescind, they’re going to write about it, and it’s going to become a whole other news cycle.”
Since then, Davis has made a number of public appearances, attending an event for City Hall interns earlier this summer, volunteering with GLIDE, and has experimented with a return to teaching. But, Davis said, it feels like a step back.
She took a job teaching sociology and African American studies at the University of San Francisco for some time — she was a kindergarten teacher for a decade — but “all that’s over this semester,” she said.
She’s glued to her phone, afraid of when the next story will pop up, or what new DM she will receive. She’s gotten messages ranging from her mother informing her that a reporter called her at her childhood home, to anonymous DMs telling her that “Black women should have integrity.”
Still, Davis said that some messages she’s received have been positive, and she’s been trying to focus on those. Davis recalls a phone call she received soon after she was accused of corruption, one she said she thinks of often.
“‘Sheryl, I know your work and I know you. I don’t want you to forget who you are,’” Davis recited. But she said it’s been hard to remember.
As more findings come to light as evidence from mounting investigations pile into Davis’ lap, it is unclear what her future will hold, and whether Davis may eventually, face criminal charges.
Davis could not be reached again for comment on the San Francisco District Attorney’s investigation, but in her last interview with Mission Local, Davis shared that she was hesitant about how much she should say, or whether it’s best to shrink away from the limelight.
In a statement to Mission Local, her lawyer, Tony Brass, said that Davis made “multiple requests” to the City Attorney’s office while she was the director of the Human Rights Commission to avoid any direct, or perceived conflicts of interest.
“Any other narrative peddled by the City Attorney’s office attempts to absolve their own responsibility by providing adequate counsel to a dedicated public servant,” emailed Brass.
And yet there is another narrative.
“Our office advised Dr. Davis in October 2022 that her former employment at Collective Impact did not create a legal conflict of interest for her,” notes Kwart. “However, she did not provide us with information about her relationship with James Spingola or ask us to evaluate whether that relationship gave rise to a conflict.”
LOL! I blame others for not catching my crimes sonner… They are to blame.
A lot to unpack. Her conduct was clearly unethical and likely illegal. Her lack of contrition, attempts to shift blame, and failure to accept responsibility make me really hope she gets some jail time.
Then there is the larger issue of why our tax dollars are funding any of this. I think it’s great that a “Queer Women of Color Media Arts Program” exists, but our tax dollars shouldn’t be funding it — that’s what fundraisers and donations are for.
Agreed. So much tax dollars for arts. Can some people just fund their own hobbies! Fix civic things not all this fluff.
Ms. Davis has a lot to account for….
Surley there should be some basic tests for anyone dealing with finances in the city.
Really excellent article! I’m amazed that her attorney did not do more to deter her from openly discussing what is almost certainly going to be the subject of a criminal indictment. But kudos for getting this interview.
So sad; such a victim. Jail time might help her with reality.
One of the biggest problems with tribalism in any culture is corruption.
Rather than government money being awarded where it is most needed or would be most effective, it is awarded to reward affinity groups.
This is what happened here.
Tribalism or Breedism? Some tribes actually do care that all sworn members follow rules so as to avoid the appearance of unethical behavior, or worse. Of course if you believe your tribe is “chosen by God” for example and can do no wrong whatsoever, that’s a different if not larger problem I think.
Most City Department heads have some type of sketchiness or another. One head said to delete all emails after two weeks, so you can’t sunshine. Their subordinate doesn’t even reply to emails, learning shadiness. Another high profile department let’s their city cars have no numbers on the side and picks up their children from school or camp in those very cars.
Hard to imagine what these purported messages of support might say…?
Show the people you care about the city, that rules are rules..for everyone: be tough on crime in this case, send her to jail..make an example out of her so others will think about it next time they are tempted by corruption.
Hard to have any empathy for her behavior. Nothing grey here!
What’s happening with Collective Impact is just the tip of the iceberg: there are dozens of Black-led nonprofits around the City, that are poverty pimps and using money in shady/illegal ways. The Dream Keeper Initiative funding was always going to be ripe with grift, greed and nepotism from the start. You can’t push $120M into the hands of people who never had it, and expect everyone to use it prudently. I say the City should audit every nonprofit that received DKI funding, and make the results public.
I hate hearing about corruption at any level of government. But San Francisco government has a long history of corruption dating back to the 19th century. So it won’t be a surprise if it turns out the allegations of corruption are true.
Still, under the US Constitution, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until convicted. So for those of you who have already convicted her in your minds, Shame on you. That’s not how we do it here.
Let’s wait and see what happens. Then if the allegations are confirmed, I’ll join you in calling for punishment. Until then, I’m open minded. Call me naive.
You are confused. The presumption of innocence does not exist in the court of public opinion and the constitution has nothing to say on that.
Well the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt under the law with the accused able to face evidence and witness testimony and challenge it, that does and I argue should exist in the court of public opinion. But most laypeople don’t have time for that, so they go with their gut based on the 1-or-fewer articles they’ve actually read on a given topic no matter what. We have now some evidence of alleged lawbreaking, per our individual understanding of all the applicable laws, (!) but we don’t have yet the actual process by which that evidence is formally procured, considered under law, presented by procedural bases, and presented in unbiased and non-prejudicial forma. This is very important. I agree this case sets off my gut fraud detector too, but we can’t really get past hanlon’s razor without the evidence that occam’s razor might not require. Long story short, no one should presume anything without a strong and demonstrable reason for doing so, but they do – which is why we’ve disambiguated that in court with all the procedures that may or may not be followed correctly or coherently to achieve the desired result : knowledge.
Of course we all think she’s guilty of something, reading this article.
Having an opinion beyond what you can reference of it, that’s absurd.
The presumption of innocence is in a court or other legal setting, not on a comment board. Allegations don’t get ‘confirmed’ – defendants are prosecuted under the law with evidence. San Francisco’s corruption, self dealing and political sausage making are legendary, and we’ve done little to stop it.
I second Jimmu
I am all for these organizations to be held to a high standard when handling public money and donations. The trend I see are criminal investigations against Sheryl Davis, Kimberly Ellis and the CEO of San Francisco SAFE. I need this trend to include the CEO of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, Drew Becher held to answer also. The SFPA have $3.8 million dollars that belonged to community groups. Hold everyone equally responsible and don’t let them make excuses.
Excellent Article.
Policies,
Procedures,
Rules, and
Regulations,
must be enforced
ALL THE TIME,
w/no exceptions,
or, they will not be obeyed.
Municipal Government must hire far fewer people,
and work w/much smaller budgets.
Municipal Government must learn to do more, w/less, much less.
And that means that it is high time for the public sector to work as the private sector does.
Hire fewer people,
and work w/much smaller budgets.
Tomorrow would be a good day to start.
I wish someone would report on what is needed to run an agency using SF funding. I’m not super sympathetic to Davis (you are a prominent politically connected leader that didn’t know you have to report living with a person that you pay city money to? Really?), but Davis not the only one making these complaints. The city is funding groups and demanding compliance with insane encyclopedia of regulations knowing these agencies can’t afford their own accounting, legal and/or support staff.
Thanks for the great article! Races and colors discussions apart, do you have any idea about when I could expect some of my taxpayer money back?
More than one thing can be true. It’s true she should have been aware of conflict of interest rules regarding her relationship with James Spinola. She was also done dirty by not having enough administrative staff to manage the 120M budget for Dream Keeper. And she is absolutely being held as the scapegoat for Mayor Breed. Simultaneously, she and other Black leaders, are being held up as corrupt which is racist. Corruption in our City starts at the top. Don’t think corruption has gone away because there’s a new mayor.
It’s not racist to call corrupt people corrupt.
It is racist — and just plain dumb — to say that an official’s skin color should make one immune to the law.
More than 2 things can be true. I doubt London Greed ordered her to hold staff offsites in Martha’s Vineyard of all places.
Investigating Davis may not be racist, but cutting the funding to the DKI as a result sure seems like it. When we found out about corruption at Recology, trash collection wasn’t defunded or suspended. Funding the black community is not seen as essential?
Trash collection affects everyone.
“Funding the black community” should NOT be a goal of city government. The city should not engage in that sort of racial discrimination. Or do you think it should also fund the white community and the Puerto Rican community and the Mandarin-speaking community and the Cantonese-speaking community and the Serbian community and the Croatian community etc etc etc?
Funding the entire community should be the goal.
Reparations, baby, reparations!!!