County prosecutors announced this week that the former head of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission diverted public funds into organizations he controlled and sometimes into his own pockets, causing the city to lose millions.
Sheryl Davis, who led the commission from 2016 to 2024, is accused of embezzling millions of dollars mass effectA San Francisco-based nonprofit she previously worked as executive director of, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. It was found that Davis had maintained financial ties to Collective Impact after going to the Commission.
James Spingola, the nonprofit’s former executive director from 2019 to 2025, was also charged with four counts for his alleged role in aiding and abetting Davis’ conflicts of interest in government contracts, prosecutors said. Investigators say they were aware of Davis’s financial stake in the organization and his continued control over its finances.
charge was announced After an 18-month-long investigation, authorities issued more than 50 search warrants.
“These are not routine charges,” San Francisco Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins said at a press conference. “Our investigation revealed that Davis was heavily involved in the decision-making process related to the allocation of these funds from the beginning”
Prosecutors said the charges included conflict of interest in government contracts, misuse of public funds, perjury and accepting prohibited gifts.
Collective Impact received approximately $8.5 million in city grant funding while Spingola was executive director between 2021 and 2024 through the city’s Dream Keeper Initiative, a program launched in 2021 to invest tens of millions of dollars annually in Black communities, according to court documents. A large portion of those funds were distributed by grants approved by the Human Rights Commission.
Jenkins alleges that Davis remained a cosigner on her bank accounts, directed expenses and used the Collective Impact nonprofit to cover personal expenses.
The affidavit describes what prosecutors call a “widespread pattern of self-dealing,” including allegations that Davis steered city contracts to Carroll Influence while sharing finances with Spingola. The two reportedly lived together, kept joint bank accounts, and paid for shared expenses such as flights and hotel stays.
Prosecutors also alleged that another nonprofit, the Homeless Children’s Network, paid Davis’ son approximately $140,000 for direct contract work, including “five presentation slides for a panel for which Davis was a moderator,” Jenkins said.
During the same period he approved contracts worth over $3.5 million for the organization. That money was deposited into a bank account jointly controlled by Davis, according to court documents.
According to Jenkins, Collective Impact allegedly paid her son more than $45,000 for payroll, back rent payments and graduate school tuition.
In addition, Davis is accused of using city funds for personal branding and public relations services, failing to disclose gifts, and facilitating the purchase of her own book by the San Francisco Public Library, from which she allegedly made a profit of more than $5,000, according to court documents.
The city’s human rights commission declined to comment on the case to The Times.
An email sent to the Collective Impacts email requesting information sent The Times an automated response that read, “I am no longer with the organization, but my heart and soul are always with this organization and my community.” It then provided an alternative email address. A message to that email was not returned Thursday.
Davis and Spingola were arrested Monday.
If convicted, Davis could face two to four years in prison and be barred from holding public office in California.
