For months, the Parks Alliance’s explanation for its financial turmoil was that donor dollars had been mismanaged.
But records obtained by The Standard suggest that the financial issues at one of San Francisco’s most influential nonprofits, which folded this month, were more severe than previously known.
Days before the nonprofit dissolved, the board of trustees accused former COO Justin Probert of “financial malfeasance,” a charge that can carry criminal penalties, according to a document dated May 29. Probert, who spent more than four years at the Parks Alliance, was fired in February 2024 by Drew Becher, the CEO at the time.
“Malfeasance usually means there is intentional wrongdoing,” Joan Harrington, a nonprofit ethics expert at Santa Clara University, said in an email. “Mismanagement refers to errors in management versus intentional wrongdoing.”
Probert did not respond to a request for comment. The district attorney’s office is conducting a criminal investigation into the nonprofit.
The May 29 board document also reveals that the problems didn’t stop with Probert.
In May 2024, the board discovered additional financial issues, pinning them on “certain C-suite officers and/or Staff of the Organization,” though no names are provided. Restricted funds meant for certain projects were found to have been used for other purposes, an allegation that initially came to light last month after the Chronicle reported on leaked emails between board chair Louise Mozingo and a donor over $3.8 million of misused funds.
Mozingo did not respond to a request for comment, and multiple board members declined to comment.
Kevin Wilkins, who leads a national consulting firm that works with nonprofits, said the Parks Alliance’s board members deserve more scrutiny. “Speaking out after the fact and being confused is not a good look. Unless it’s been fraudulent, if they got reports that are not accurate, shy of the board being misled, they are accountable.”
Meanwhile, former Parks Alliance employees say they had no warning before the nonprofit’s collapse.
“It is a great example of how greed can corrupt,” said Austin Wasielewski, who spent more than a year as a technical producer and engineer for the Parks Alliance, working on concerts and other events, a job he described as a dream assignment. “It only takes a few people to destroy something.”
“Everybody was kept so much in the dark,” another former employee said. “The wool was pulled over everybody’s eyes.”
After the financial issues were discovered, board members participated in more than 100 meetings to try to rectify the situation, the document states. In 2024, there were multiple rounds of layoffs and event cancellations. Two financial services companies, Metis Partners and BTQ Financials, were recruited to help with the situation.
By October, board members had “lost confidence” in then-CEO Becher’s ability to get the nonprofit back on track. The board crafted a new financial plan in December after it found that the nonprofit was “substantially deviating” from its budget. Becher quietly resigned in February and was replaced by Robert Ogilvie, who came from the PR firm Lighthouse Public Affairs. The board recruited Pia Gheen, COO of the influential think tank SPUR, to help stabilize operations in May. That month, the nonprofit reported $1.6 million in assets, of which $1.2 million was cash.
Neighborhood groups say the Parks Alliance was holding their funds when it folded. For example, Friends of Franklin Square says the nonprofit had $148,000 of its money, which is now lost. At a conversation Tuesday at Manny’s cafe featuring Recreation and Parks General Manager Phil Ginsburg, a Friends of Alta Plaza Park member, Anita Denz, said a $50,000 bequeathment was missing. Recreation and Parks worked closely with the Parks Alliance, even urging residents at times to work with the nonprofit if they wanted to complete neighborhood projects.
When asked if the neighborhood groups would be paid back, Ginsburg replied, “I think that there is an effort to raise some money privately and philanthropically to try to make folks whole.”
Lawmakers are taking action. Supervisor Shamann Walton has subpoenaed documents from the Parks Alliance and is calling for Ogilvie, Becher, and board treasurer Rich Hutchinson to testify. Supervisor Jackie Fielder has called for an audit of the nonprofit’s relationship with the Recreation and Parks Department.
According to the May 29 document, board members approved an “Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors” process to wind down the nonprofit through a firm called Jigsaw Advisors. The mechanism assigns an individual who determines how much money is owed to whom.
In an email sent to neighborhood groups June 5, Jigsaw Advisors’ William Brinkman explained that his firm would send a notice to expected creditors detailing how to submit claims within a month.
“As of today, we do not have the ability to answer most questions,” wrote Brinkman. “We will do our best to be responsive as we understand the impact that the failure of SFPA has on organizations and people. We ask for your patience as this is a lengthy process.”