Controller’s Office Releases Additional Information About Contracts and Grants City Had with Dwayne Jones and Related Entities Following His Criminal Charges

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The latest assessment in the Public Integrity Series from the Controller’s Office and City Attorney’s Office provides an overview of city funding to now-suspended organizations affiliated with Rudolph Dwayne Jones and scrutinizes millions of dollars to an organization Jones founded.

Jones, a former city official turned private contractor, was criminally charged in August 2023 with multiple felony counts of misappropriation of public money, bribery, and aiding and abetting financial conflicts of interest. Jones is alleged to have secured several city contracts and grants over a period of four years by bribing the director of the city’s Community Challenge Grant program — a program that provides city funding for community-led, neighborhood improvements. Jones pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in August 2023 and is currently awaiting trial.

Following the criminal charges, the City Administrator and City Attorney suspended Jones and his affiliated entities from bidding on or receiving city contracts or grants. Departments were required to terminate any existing financial relationships with the suspended entities. Five organizations affiliated with Jones were suspended with the exception of one: Urban Ed Academy, Inc., a nonprofit founded by Jones in 2012. Jones and his wife were no longer affiliated with Urban Ed Academy in August 2023 when Jones was criminally charged, and Urban Ed Academy was not suspended. When auditors identified irregularities in awards to Urban Ed Academy as part of this assessment, the organization cooperated fully with the joint assessment.

The report released today recaps city funding provided to Jones and his affiliated organizations (referred to as Jones-Related Entities in the report) totaling $15.2M from July 2016 through December 2024 from 11 different city departments or entities. The report reveals new information regarding the open grants to Urban Ed Academy. The City’s competitive solicitation processes were seemingly manipulated or disregarded with respect to Urban Ed Academy, which resulted in irregularities in the award to and oversight of grants to Urban Ed Academy at both Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD). Major findings include:

• Urban Ed Academy gifted a portrait valued at $5,500 to former HRC Director Sheryl Davis less than a month before Davis awarded a grant of $270,000 to Urban Ed Academy.
• Randal Seriguchi, Jr., the executive director of Urban Ed Academy until January 2024, served on the Dream Keeper Initiative (DKI) Community Accountability Committee in 2023 when Urban Ed Academy had multiple active DKI-funded grants.
• HRC approved stipends to members of the DKI Community Accountability Committee without first obtaining legal authority from the Board of Supervisors. The stipends were not paid through the City’s financial system; instead, the stipends were paid to Committee members by a non-profit that received HRC funding.
• 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 that were competing for funding.

After awarding a grant to Urban Ed Academy despite its low score in the evaluation process, OEWD failed to adequately monitor Urban Ed Academy’s performance on the grant. OEWD increased the amount of the grant 173 percent (from $437,500 to $1,192,500) after notifying Urban Ed Academy that it was not meeting performance metrics in the grant. As of January 2025, all city grants with Urban Ed Academy have expired or have been terminated. Urban Ed Academy has new leadership and is fully cooperating with the assessment.

The assessment listed twelve recommendations for city departments, including the Controller’s Office, to increase accountability and transparency.

Controller Greg Wagner provided the following statement: “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. 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.”

Upcoming and Ongoing Work Related to HRC and Dream Keeper Initiative

• An audit of HRC’s non-contract payments, which include “Prop. Q” payments, is underway by the Controller’s Office, in conjunction with the City Attorney’s Office. The Controller’s Office and Office of Contract Administration suspended HRC’s Prop Q purchasing authority until the completion of the audit.
• Controller’s City Performance Division is also working on an assessment of DKI services, funding, and performance metrics on DKI programs across city departments that received DKI funding since inception.
• Controller’s Office accounting staff were dispatched in September 2024 to oversee accounting operations at HRC, including approvals of payments and other financial transactions.
• An audit of grant agreements with Collective Impact is also underway, in conjunction with the City Attorney’s Office.

About Suspension

Suspension orders against Rudolph Dwayne Jones, RDJ Enterprises, and identified affiliates were issued in September 2023. Suspension orders are effective immediately, bar the contractors and grantees from participating in the procurement process for new contracts or grants and enable the City to cancel any existing contracts or grants. The full list of entities unable to participate in contracting with the City and County of San Francisco is available online.