{"id":249301,"date":"2026-04-03T00:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/249301\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T00:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:42:11","slug":"san-francisco-ex-human-rights-chief-sheryl-davis-pleads-not-guilty-to-bilking-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/249301\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco ex-human rights chief Sheryl Davis pleads not guilty to bilking taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission Sheryl Davis<\/a> pleaded not guilty to 19 counts of self-dealing and misusing taxpayer funds \u2014 as her attorney launched a fiery defense, saying his client had begged for help from the city. <\/p>\n

Davis, clad in a black blazer and pink shoes, was surrounded by supporters and defense attorney Tony Brass at San Francisco Superior Court Thursday as she entered the courtroom in silence to enter pleas of not guilty to a battery of charges<\/a> stemming from her time leading the Dream Keeper Initiative, a $120 million program to aid the city\u2019s black community that imploded in scandal in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not a crook, she\u2019s not hiding anything,\u201d Brass told reporters. <\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis appears for arraignment in court in San Francisco. Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission Sheryl Davis pleaded not guilty to 19 counts of self-dealing and misusing taxpayer funds Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Brass said Davis had been forthcoming with investigators and repeatedly told the city she needed staffing help in running the massive spending plan. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the one asking for accountability. If she was profiting from the system, why would she have ever done that?\u201d Brass added. <\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis leaves court following her arraignment in San Francisco. Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Her attorney launched a fiery defense, saying his client had begged for help from the city. Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Davis is accused of a \u201cpervasive pattern of self-dealing\u201d during her time leading the Dream Keeper Initiative, launched in 2021 in response to the police killing of George Floyd.<\/p>\n

She allegedly used her partner James Spingola\u2019s nonprofit, Collective Impact, as a \u201cslush fund\u201d to help pay for PR for her children\u2019s book, celebrity-studded events and other expenses described as \u201cfrivolous\u201d by a prior city audit \u2014 as she was directing millions in city funds towards the organization.<\/p>\n

Former San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Sheryl Davis. Facebook\/SherylEvanDavis<\/p>\n

Meena Harris, London Breed, Sheryl Davis and James Spingola attend THE GRADUATES 2023 San Francisco Private Screening Reception on June 5, 2023. Photo \u2013 Drew Altizer Photography<\/p>\n

She allegedly paid a $10,000 speaking fee to Sonya Curry<\/a>, mother of Warriors star Steph Curry, and paid out tens of thousands to artists like Goapele to perform at city-sponsored events \u2014 and the launch party for her children\u2019s book, \u201cFree to Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Spingola, who lived together, shared bank accounts and she allegedly wielded significant sway over Collective Impact, which she led before joining the Human Rights Commission as director in 2018. <\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis shields her face from photographers as she leaves court. Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis smiles as she leaves court after her arraignment. Jason Henry for CA Post<\/p>\n

Davis also allegedly splurged on pricey parties using city funds, including an ice rink rental, DJ floral arrangements and catering in Philadelphia costing $2.1 million, $267,000 on gala tickets and sponsorships, and $60,000 for a venue rental at\u00a0the Golden State Warriors\u2019 Chase Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Davis also approved millions in grants to another nonprofit, Homeless Children\u2019s Network, that paid out $140,000 to her young son for research assistance. <\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis with musician John Legend. instagram\/sheryldavissf<\/p>\n

Sheryl Davis and James Spingola attend SF Human Rights Commission Reception on October 6, 2023. Photo \u2013 Dave Zahrobsky for Drew Altizer Photography<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Davis was funneling city money to Collective Impact, while also steering how Collective Impact spent its funds, both for [Human Rights Commission] use and for her personal benefit,\u201d prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Brass said the city knew about her ties to Collective Impact when they hired her to lead the Human Rights Commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission of the agency was to get money to the hands of the people who needed it very quickly, immediately \u2014 and Collective Impact \u2026 was the route through which the money was going to go,\u201d Brass said. <\/p>\n

Davis is due back in court on May 6. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission Sheryl Davis pleaded not guilty to 19 counts of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,3622,1312,5466,13,101,103,102,104,106,105,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-249301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-court","10":"tag-courts","11":"tag-nonprofits","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-san-francisco","14":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","15":"tag-san-francisco-news","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-headlines","18":"tag-sf-news","19":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}