Former Gala Pride and Diversity Center director charged with embezzlement

December 1, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office announced today it filed grand theft by embezzlement charges against the former director of the San Luis Obispo Gala Pride and Diversity Center.

Prosecutors charged 46-year-old Dustin Robert Colyerworth with four counts of grand theft by embezzlement. Colyerworth allegedly embezzled funds from the Gala Pride and Diversity Center beginning in Nov. 2022 and ending in Oct.  2024.

“Embezzlement of funds is crime that we take seriously,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “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.”

Colyerworth posted a $20,000 bond with the SLO County Superior Court on Nov. 25, and is not in custody. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 10.

This case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department.