People: Green Dot Founder Reported Leaving Changing Roles

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There was little indication last week when he was in DC and NYC that Steve Barr was going to be leaving Green Dot, the organization he founded.  But California public radio station KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez is now reporting that Barr is stepping down [as chairman].  For months there has been fretting and clucking about the news that Barr was being forced to repay $50,000 in unreimbursable or undocumented expenses that he'd racked up wining and dining teachers and funders.  He stepped down as CEO just over a year ago.  But Barr seemed unperturbed about the situation during an interview last week.  No one from Green Dot has so far responded to my emails seeking confirmation or further explanation.

UPDATE:  Barr confirms that he is leaving the chairmanship in order to start Green Dot America in January.  There is no connection between the internal audit and his departure, says Barr.  He will become chairman emeritus and remain on the executive board. In which case I'm not sure what the news is.  UPDATE 2:  Finally, something from Green Dot. See below.

From Green Dot:  "Steve Barr is not departing from Green Dot. He continues to be very active in the organization and retains his title and responsibilities as Executive Board Member and Founder. Barr is currently taking on a leadership role in the national dialogue on education reform and is drafting a plan, based on best practices and lessons learned from the Green Dot model, that sets the conditions and guidelines to effectively create systemic reform on a national and state policy level. CEO Marco Petruzzi will continue to run day to day operations at Green Dot, while Shane Martin will fill the role of Chairman of the Board."

Comments

[Dick]

This is as clear as a mud dot.

[alexander]

sorry about that.

the original KPCC story said that barr was leaving green dot, and i couldn't get ahold of the green dot folks on a friday night / saturday morning.

it seemed like big news and i went ahead with what i had, only to find out that barr was just leaving his role as chairman of the board. hence the mess.

apologies to all.

[alexander]

one further clarification.
the LA Times credits me for surfacing the payment issue but in reality it was kenneth libby at schools matter who first dug this up -- i should have credited him in the post above, and then the LA times would have given him the credit he deserves.

here's the original post from libby:
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2009/10/howd-steve-barr-spend-50866.html