City of San Francisco Cancels $14 Million in Dream Keeper Initiative Funding

The City of San Francisco has officially canceled $14.4 million in grants to more than 30 San Francisco-based cultural organizations working in social services and the arts.

In a March 26 email, organizations including the African American Shakespeare Company and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company were notified that former grant awards and agreements under the Dream Keepers Initiative had been rescinded. The organizations are welcome to submit new proposals, the email said.

Organizations whose funds were canceled include the Chinese Culture Foundation ($200,000), the Transgender District ($375,000), Zaccho Dance Theatre ($300,000) and Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors ($210,000).

The grant cancellations come as the city attempts to revamp its Dream Keeper Initiative, launched in February of 2021 as a response to the murder of George Floyd. The initiative had aimed to invest $60 million in Black communities and organizations annually. One recipient, the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, had recently been awarded $1,750,000 across four separate grants.

But financial scandals, like one relating to former Human Rights Commission head Sheryl Davis, and another relating to former city official Rudolph Dwayne Jones, caused former mayor London Breed to freeze all Dream Keeper Initiative funds in September of 2024.

Those frozen funds have now been officially rescinded. Under Mayor Daniel Lurie, the city is preparing a rebranded version of the initiative that promises more transparency and accountability going forward.

“We are implementing stronger oversight measures to ensure funding reaches the communities it was intended to serve — especially those that have historically been kept out of access to critical resources,” acting Human Rights Commission executive director Mawuli Tugbenyoh said in a statement. Tugbenyoh also noted the commission will be “expanding support for grantees.”

But with previously awarded funding now gone, and without a clear timeline for when new funding will come in to relieve current gaps, some arts organizations are concerned with the way changes are being implemented.

“How do we know that the same thing won’t happen again?” said Sherri Young, founder and executive director of the African American Shakespeare Company, which according to a document supplied by the city had $300,000 in recent funding canceled. “Once you start dismantling funding, it takes a lot of effort to bring back, it’s not a quick thing.”

Young also expressed frustration at having to create and submit another proposal. “It’s staff members’ time filling out requests for proposals and having meetings and discussions, there’s a lot that goes into it,” she said.

Young said she, her staff and board members have discussed potential layoffs as a result of the canceled funds. And while she’s no longer able to commit to plans for the African American Shakespeare Company’s 30th anniversary, Young said she remains hopeful.

“Even if I have to donate my time again, which is how I started 30 years ago, I’ll go back to that,” she said. “But I won’t close our doors.”