Former San Francisco Nonprofit Chief Charged With Misuse of $700,000

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office on Rhode Island Street in August 2022. Google Maps/Screenshot via California Insider

SAN FRANCISCO—The former executive director of a San Francisco nonprofit was arrested July 30 and faces 34 felony charges related to alleged misuse of more than $700,000, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office.

Kyra Worthy, 49, of Richmond, California, who led the crime-prevention group San Francisco SAFE from 2018 to 2024, is accused of misappropriation of public money, submitting fraudulent invoices to a city department, theft from SF SAFE, and wage theft from its employees, during her tenure as executive director.

“Despite SF SAFE receiving millions of dollars in public and private funds over the next five years, Worthy’s theft and mismanagement resulted in the 48-year-old charity having no assets and ceasing operations in January of 2024,” a court document said.

Worthy received more than $500,000 from the city’s Office of Employment and Workforce Development (OEWD) for a Mission Safe Streets program involving two subgrantees, both members of a Latino task force, but failed to pay them, prosecutors said.

Worthy allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 of SF SAFE funds for her own use, prosecutors said.

She also was accused of stopping withholding and paying payroll taxes for 27 employees from September 2023 through January 2024 without the employees’ knowledge.

“When she submitted four months’ worth of invoices to OEWD for payment on the Mission Safe Streets contract, she falsely represented that she had paid full wages and taxes … and sought full reimbursement,” prosecutors said.

Other charges were related to inappropriate expenses and “a pattern of activity over several years in which Worthy both stole and grossly misspent the nonprofit’s funds, culminating with a series of crimes in 2023 when SF SAFE was unable to meet its financial obligations,” said the press release.

Worthy was reportedly fired by the nonprofit’s board of directors shortly after an audit assessment was published by San Francisco’s controller’s office on Jan. 18.

The audit, requested by the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), found that at least $79,655 was spent on ineligible and/or excessive expenses.

SFPD offloaded further investigation to the DA’s office due to the department’s close partnership with SF SAFE.

In fiscal year 2022–23 alone, SF SAFE received a total of $1.17 million from SFPD, according to the Controller’s Office’s audit.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins recused herself from the investigation and potential prosecution “out of an abundance of caution” in February due to her professional relationship with an SF SAFE donor, according to the DA’s press release.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the decision made by the nonprofit’s board of directors regarding Worthy after the audit report was released in January. The Epoch Times regrets the error.