A homeless nonprofit paid the son of San Francisco’s top human rights chief $10,000 to prepare five slides for a panel moderated by his mother — as she signed city contracts worth millions for the organization, according to prosecutors.
Sheryl Davis, the former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, was arrested Monday on multiple charges of public corruption stemming from her time leading the scarred Dream Keeper program, a $120 million program to help the city’s black communities.
Davis signed city contracts worth more than $3.5 million to the Homeless Children’s Network, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides substance abuse counseling and other services to at-risk families — and prosecutors say the organization then made “questionable” payments to Davis’ young son totaling more than $140,000.
That included a cool $10,000 to create a “five-slide presentation” in which the Executive Director of the Homeless Children’s Network appeared, and “answers to questions.”
Davis’ son, identified in city records as Henry Davis, was paid $140,000 by the nonprofit in less than three years for research services.
Davis’ son was not accused of wrongdoing, but the payments created “the appearance of impropriety and impropriety,” prosecutors noted.
He was allowed to “include a description of the work to be performed in the contracts” and set his own salary schedule and price as part of the plum gig, according to the affidavit.
The Homeless Children’s Network made payments to an account jointly held by Davis and her son — creating a conflict of interest, prosecutors said.
However, it’s unclear how much of the questionable payments came directly from city funds since the nonprofit’s records were “primarily paper-based and unreliable,” according to prosecutors.
Davis was accused of a “pervasive pattern of self-dealing” while running the Dream Keeper Initiative — which led to 17 felony charges and two misdemeanor counts after an 18-month investigation by the San Francisco District Attorney.
Davis’ roommate, James Spingola, has also been arrested on four counts of aiding and abetting Davis.
Davis allegedly used Collective Impact, Spinola’s nonprofit, as a “fund of money” to “help fund celebrity-studded events, restaurant purchases, VIP tickets and other high-dollar expenses.”
His department split the costs with Collective Impact to pay a $10,000 speaking fee to Sonya Curry, mother of Warriors star Steph Curry, about $27,000 to singer Goapele, $25,000 to rapper and producer D-Nice, and $25,000 to Grammy-nominated songwriter King.
The former human rights chief did not disclose his close relationship with Spinkola while directing city funds to his charity, according to ethics experts.
Collective Impact has received approximately $8.5 million in city grants between 2021 and 2024.
An earlier investigation found that the former director of the Human Rights Commission also spent department funds on a $2.1 million party in Philadelphia that included ice rink rental, a DJ, floral and catering arrangements, $267,000 in gala tickets and sponsorships, and a $60,000 venue rental at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center.
Collective Impact also paid “more than $45,000 to or on behalf of [Davis’ son] in 2023 and 2024,” prosecutors said.
