Fashion
San Francisco spent $600K on a women’s conference. Here’s how
Mar
San Francisco is famous for burning taxpayer cash in weird ways, but a policy summit held by the Department on the Status of Women last spring may have set a new standard by lighting more than $600,000 ablaze while also potentially violating city rules, according to documents obtained by The Standard.
The department has received scathing criticism for more than a week since its director, Kimberly Ellis, was placed on paid leave pending an investigation. Sources say an internal investigation dating back to last year led to the suspension, which is related to unapproved political work she did outside of City Hall and unusual spending on the department’s “Shift Happens” women’s policy summit in April 2024.
Last summer, The Standard requested records for Shift Happens expenses, and the department provided a spreadsheet showing that it budgeted $700,000 for its main vendor, the women’s political organization Ignite National, which received a no-bid contract to run the event. Department officials alleged they did not retain invoices, receipts, or more vendor information from the conference.
The Standard obtained a trove of documents showing the department spared no expense on food, flowers, lighting and drapes, a fashion show, a DJ, plane tickets, hotel stays, and speaker fees — including one paid to a member of the department’s own oversight committee.
Although the conference lasted just eight hours, it cost more than $600,000 — almost $1,000 per attendee — months after city budget officials warned of a more than $1 billion deficit.
Invoices for the Shift Happens conference show that Ellis and a few of her department staffers spent up to three nights that week staying at Hotel Zelos — despite the fact that the conference lasted just one day. The department also picked up the hotel tab for conference guests and speakers, collectively racking up $7,656 in charges, and paid for airfare and transportation for out-of-town attendees.
Additionally, a review of invoices sent to the department by Ignite’s chief operating officer, Amanda Conlee, found what appear to be inconsistencies in the way tens of thousands of dollars in administrative costs were billed to the city. When contacted Friday afternoon, Conlee said she had no comment and immediately hung up.
Ignite has previous financial connections to Ellis: Her consulting firm, Southern Belle Strategies, received more than $10,000 for the group in 2020, according to financial disclosures.
The Standard’s inspection of invoices for the Shift Happens conference found other notable charges:
$78,666 on food and beverages: Charges include $4,896 for Peet’s Coffee; $4,608 for candy bars, chips, and cookies; $240 for 16 bottles of sparkling 750ml Perrier bottles priced at $15 each; and $160 for three gallons of cucumber-flavored water.
$65,000 to Projection Presentation Technology: The audio-visual company noted in its invoice that it was giving the department a discount of $13,680.
$19,994 to Island Creative Management for lighting and drapes
$10,047 for floral arrangements by Belle & Trunk Flowers
$5,000 for DJ Hey Love, who keeps the party going with “jazz, R&B, downtempo, broken beat, house, bossa nova, afro beat & hip-hop,” according to the artist’s website
$3,119 to WhoVa, an event management app for check-in: The invoice said it could support up to 1,500 guests. A list shows 624 attendees.
$2,000 for massage therapists: An invoice shows one of the therapists was told each massage session should only last seven to eight minutes.
$2,000 for spoken word and traditional blessing performances
$1,210 for makeup and hair styling services
$1,950 for a photo booth
Andary, who disclosed the payment in her financial disclosure forms, discussed Ellis’ role as the department’s director in a closed-session meeting with other commission members this week. The group voted to keep the March 26 discussion confidential, and Andary declined to answer The Standard’s questions about the speaking fee, deferring to the city attorney’s office.
Other speakers included Elmy Bermejo, a member of the Commission on the Environment, and youth commissioner Jason Fong. As for the hotel stays, it’s not clear whether Ellis obtained permission to expense overnight stays in the local area. However, city officials previously confirmed that she failed to get approval for outside employment with Power PAC, a political organization her department funded.
Ellis has a history of mixing friendships and city contracts. The department paid behavior coach Christina Harbridge, a “dear friend” of Ellis, $85,000 for work described as a series of trainings, according to an investigation published Thursday. Ellis did not disclose her relationship with Harbridge to the city.
Ellis revealed in an amended financial disclosure form in late 2024 that she had received $19,350 in payments to her consulting company from Power PAC. Since 2022, Ellis’ department has provided approximately $120,000 in contracts to Power PAC’s nonprofit affiliate.
Ellis’ salary as head of the department totaled $227,556, city records show.
Ellis joined the department in 2020, and since then, 24 people have parted ways from what’s now an eight-person department. The Standard interviewed almost a dozen former employees who described a culture of “surveillance, fear, and bullying.” Three employees have filed grievances with their union about the workplace culture, and at least two ex-workers received settlements from the city.
