Important news for innovation.  SJI has just (yesterday) announced their new priority areas.  I think most us will be both pleased and impressed.  Here is the list, now on their website, as well as in E-SJINews.

Priority Investment Areas

On November 30, 2011, the SJI Board of Directors announced SJI’s new Priority Investment Areas. SJI will allocate significant financial resources through grant-making for these following Priority Investment Areas (in no ranking order):

• Self-Represented Litigation – e.g., self-help centers, online services, training.
• Limited English Proficiency (LEP) – e.g., interpretation service plans, remote interpretation (outside the courtroom), interpreter certification, courtroom services (plain language forms, websites, etc.).
• Reengineering in Response to Budget Reductions – e.g., the process of reengineering, regionalization or centralization of services, structural changes, the electronic record.
• Immigration Issues in the State Courts – e.g., impact of federal and state immigration law and policies, juvenile and family issues, training.
• Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Elder Issues – e.g., visitor programs, electronic reporting, reports, training.

The Priority Investment Areas replace the former Special Interest Categories for Project Grants in many ways – most importantly in that they apply to ALL grant types (with the exception of the Education Support Program). SJI strongly encourages potential grant applicants to consider projects addressing one or more of these Priority Investment Areas. More information about the Priority Investment Areas will be provided in the future.

Congratulations to the new Board and its staff for responding to changing times.  I suspect that I may look at this from the perspective of my areas of interest, but there seems to me to be a focus both on the areas of greatest challenge, and on the tools that offer the greatest opportunity to meet those challenges.

By the way, E-SJINews also carries the good (in these times) news that the 2012 FY budget is unchanged at $5,121,000, as well as a listing of new grants.