Gala Pride and Diversity Center’s disgraced former executive director Dustin Colyer-Worth now faces four counts of grand theft by embezzlement after the nonprofit accused him last year of siphoning its funds to his personal accounts.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, which filed the charges and issued an arrest warrant against Colyer-Worth on Nov. 17, announced on Dec. 1 that he posted a $20,000 bond with the SLO Superior Court.
The 46-year-old Santa Cruz resident is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 10.
“The alleged taking was long lived and involved many transactions that we believe to be fraudulent,” Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth said.
According to the DA’s Office complaint, the theft of money and personal property exceeding a value of $950 took place from Nov. 29, 2022, to Oct. 1, 2024. Dobroth told New Times thathe couldn’t comment on why his office broke down the allegation into four separate charges.
“Embezzlement of funds is crime that we take seriously,” DA Dan Dow said in a press release. “It inflicts real financial harm, but its deeper damage is the broken trust and the lost opportunities when the money intended for our community is diverted into private pockets.”
Gala began publicly talking about money troubles when board president Julia Thompson posted a letter on Instagram on Sept. 30, 2024, declaring that the group was in a “critical financial situation” and needed help from the community.
Initially, the board attributed the crisis to a drop in donations since Gala saw contributions and grants fall from around $213,000 in 2021 to almost $66,000 in 2022.
Two days later, the Gala board uncovered evidence that it said pointed to Colyer-Worth stealing the nonprofit’s money, according to a second letter published on Oct. 14, 2024.
The second letter also said that Colyer-Worth had been moved from his executive director post to a part-time role in June 2024, and that the board fully severed ties with him in September 2024.
“We’re very happy that charges have been filed and hope that Dusty is prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Thompson said.
She said that the SLO Police Department’s investigation found that Colyer-Worth stole $46,000 from Gala. In the wake of the embezzlement, the nonprofit eliminated both its staffed positions but has since hired a handful of new staff to fill different roles.
“We’ve worked very hard to maintain our services, and there was a very heavy emphasis on volunteer work for the board of directors,” Thompson said.
She previously told New Times that Gala hadn’t conducted an audit since 2018 and planned to do so after discovering Colyer-Worth’s alleged theft. According to the California Registry of Charitable Trusts, only nonprofits generating more than $2 million in revenue are required to undergo audits. Thompson didn’t say when the next audit would be performed.
Gala created a financial committee and hired a third-party bookkeeping service to handle finances and develop stronger oversight policies instead of leaving money-managing to the executive director and treasurer.
Colyer-Worth relocated to Santa Cruz after he parted ways with Gala. He works as the outreach manager for the local Diversity Center. Colyer-Worth also spoke at a Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce event in January called “Elevating LGBTQ-plus Inclusion: Increasing Revenue, Retention & Respect.”
“As the director of engagement and inclusion for the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, he has strengthened bonds between the business community and social justice,” his biography on the Diversity Center’s website read. “In his most recent role as the executive director of the Gala Pride and Diversity Center, Dusty brought his dedication to supporting and empowering the LGBTQ-plus community to the forefront.”
The Diversity Center didn’t respond to New Times’ requests for comment by press time.
“I am aware that Dusty is working in Santa Cruz but not aware of whether the organization knows about the recent charges filed,” Thompson said. “They were aware of media coverage last year when we first came out with the accusation.” ∆
This article appears in Dec 4-14, 2025.