Yesterday, activist and former Santa Rosa City Schools staffer Adina Flores published a detailed post accusing the North Bay Organizing Project of retaliation, financial misconduct and political protection. Flores says the dispute spilled into the school district and that her efforts to raise concerns set off what she describes as a coordinated attempt to silence her.
Flores' Allegations
In a post titled “NBOP Exposed,” Flores lays out a string of accusations that include alleged embezzlement, misuse of nonprofit resources and efforts to block her questions at public events. She says she filed a Uniform Complaint Procedure complaint in August 2022. According to Adina Flores, the district later paid her a $50,000 settlement in November 2024, and she sent NBOP a notice of intent to sue. Flores says NBOP then barred her from events under a zero-tolerance harassment letter.
NBOP's Community Role
The North Bay Organizing Project presents itself as a countywide organizing network that stewards mutual-aid programs and immigrant-defense work. NBOP describes programs such as UndocuFund and rapid response, and local school materials list NBOP as a partner in district programs and memorandums of understanding. A local teachers' association agenda summary includes NBOP on a list of district partners, which is part of why Flores frames this as both a nonprofit story and a school governance story. The Santa Rosa Teachers Association shows NBOP listed as a no-cost partner on district materials.
How Omar Medina Fits In
Many of Flores' claims single out Omar Medina, who has served as a Santa Rosa City Schools trustee and board president and has been publicly active in immigrant relief work. NorCal Public Media and contemporaneous accounts document Medina's role on the school board, and archival coverage of post-fire relief shows Medina involved with UndocuFund and other local mutual-aid efforts. UndocuFund materials reference community coordinators who worked with local organizers during the pandemic and fire response.
What We Could Not Independently Verify
The more explosive claims in Flores' post, including alleged embezzlement, a physical assault at a public debate and an assertion that NBOP refused to advocate for dozens of abused children, are presented as Flores' firsthand allegations. They are not independently corroborated in mainstream local coverage we reviewed. Local reporting has documented disputes and leadership turnover at the district level, but those outlets have not published independent confirmation of the specific charges Flores describes. The Press Democrat is among the outlets that have reported on district turmoil without corroborating the new allegations.
NBOP's Public Stance
NBOP has posted organizational statements addressing sexual harassment and the need for accountability in movement work, writing that it is “committed to standing with survivors in solidarity.” NBOP's statement emphasizes survivor support and internal accountability but does not appear to address the specific allegations Flores outlines in her post.
Legal and Reporting Pathways
Flores says she filed a formal UCP complaint with the district in August 2022 and later sent a notice of intent to sue and a request for criminal charges. Those procedural claims are described in her post, and Flores cites those filings. The Uniform Complaint Procedures process provides a formal administrative avenue for school-related grievances, and the California Department of Education publishes guidance on appeals and timelines. The California Department of Education explains how complaints are investigated and appealed, and Santa Rosa City Schools' own contact page lists local Title IX and complaint contacts for people with district grievances. Santa Rosa City Schools includes the district office and Title IX coordinators.
The post from June 17 has pushed a well-known local nonprofit and its school connections back into public view. Flores' allegations raise questions that would require document review, formal complaint investigations and, if criminal conduct is alleged and evidence supports it, law enforcement review. For now, the claims remain Flores' public allegations and a topic for further reporting and possible administrative or legal action.
