A Third-Generation San Franciscan Who Overcame Adversity and Injustice While Coming of Age in Bayview
Theo’s family journey began when his grandfather moved to San Francisco from the segregated South, seeking a better life during the Great Migration. Theo and his brother were raised by their mother on the $18,000 a year she made as a concessioner at Candlestick Park during Giants and 49ers games.
Theo attended Charles Drew Elementary and Gloria Davis Middle School in Bayview/Hunters Point. What he remembers most about his daily walk to school was the balloon shrines—each one a memorial to yet another peer fallen victim to gun violence. After his 13-year-old cousin was shot and killed, Theo committed to creating a new normal for his neighborhood.
Theo found an outlet as a documentary filmmaker, first producing Bus 24: The Diversity Bus. Later, at School of the Arts, he directed a film about homelessness, in which he interviewed Mayor Newsom. These films were featured at the SF International Film Festival and World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Theo would become the first in his family to graduate from college, then earned his masters in Urban Affairs from the University of San Francisco.
A Fearless Leader Who Stood Up to Discrimination, Environmental Racism, and Corporate Greed to Protect Our Communities
When City Hall proposed bringing discriminatory Stop and Frisk policing to San Francisco, 24-year-old Theo fought back. He built a coalition of civil rights groups and citizens and delivered thousands of signatures to the mayor’s office. City Hall ultimately backed down. Afterwards, Theo transformed the coalition into a Democratic club (now called Black Citizen) that supports nonprofits focused on improving lives in Black communities. Theo later served on the City’s Human Rights Commission, where he defended our sanctuary city and anti-discrimination policies.
Theo also led one of the largest environmental justice cases in U.S. history, when he organized local families in a class action lawsuit against Tetra Tech, a multi-billion-dollar corporation that covered up the existence of toxic soil in Hunters Point Shipyard. The $6.3 million settlement paid to several dozen homeowners brought justice to a neighborhood that has been the target of environmental racism for decades.
Led the Creation of Over 1,000 Affordable Homes and Doubled Salvation Army SF’s Homeless Services During COVID
Theo has been appointed to City commissions by three consecutive Mayors–Newsom, Lee, and Breed. As a Community Investment and Infrastructure Commissioner, he helped create over 1,000 new affordable homes—including more than 100 for formerly homeless residents and low-income seniors—while restoring over $50 million in City investments for minority-and women-owned businesses, workforce development, and local hiring.
Later, as the first Director of Homelessness Initiatives & Community Development for The Salvation Army, Theo led the organization’s efforts to double its homeless services. He helped develop an innovative continuum-of-care model that included a 50-bed mental health respite center and new sober living standard, to fight substance abuse. He oversaw the organization’s citywide COVID-19 response and delivered more than 500,000 meals to unhoused families. He also secured $10 million in new revenue and built a holistic initiative that combined transitional housing with workforce training and life skills, helping people not only get off the streets, but stay off.
Brought our Golden State Warriors Home, Creating 3,000 Good-Paying Jobs and Transformative Community Investment
As the Golden State Warriors’ first Director of Public Affairs, Theo played a pivotal role in bringing the team and its $1.2 billion Chase Center to San Francisco. Leading government relations and community engagement, he built a coalition of more than 30,000 residents, neighborhood groups, unions, and businesses, and secured approvals from 14 public agencies.
His leadership not only delivered a world-class arena but generated extraordinary community benefits, and more than 3,000 construction and permanent good-paying jobs, alongside millions of dollars in workforce development, small business investment, public transit improvements, and educational programs—expanding opportunity in San Francisco’s southeast neighborhoods.
A Nonprofit Executive Leading a Cultural Renaissance at the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House
Today, Theo is Executive Director of Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House--the city’s most historic theater and an iconic cultural institution known for launching the next generation of local artists of color. The SF Standard says Theo helped transform the opera house into a “performance powerhouse.” Under Theo’s leadership, the Opera House has established a new focus on the performing arts, undergone major equipment upgrades, welcomed thousands of new patrons, provided thousands of hours of job training for those seeking careers in the arts, and awarded over $450,000 in grants to diverse artists. Theo is passionate about building a creative economy that uplifts our neighborhoods.
Theo is also a policy director at Brownstein, a legal and policy firm.
A Husband and Father Raising the Fourth Generation of San Franciscans in District 10
Theo and his wife, Seray—a registered nurse—are raising their seven-year-old son and four-year-old twin boys less than a mile from where Theo himself grew up. For Theo, the future of San Francisco begins in our neighborhoods. He believes the city must be a place where families can afford to live, feel safe, and thrive for generations to come.
