A big step, and very good news, given the background of the person selected.

Peter Campbell has worked closely with NTEN (National Technology Enterprise Network), receiving an award from them in 2011. This is what the presenter said (pasted from the NTEN wesite):

 [T]he “NTEN Award,” [is] given this year to Peter Campbell, IT Director for Earthjustice.  Former NTEN Awardee John Merritt presented the award to Peter, and I’d like to share his words:

The NTEN award is given each year to a person who the lives the values of our community. At NTEN, we are all practical dreamers; we’re open and authentic with one another, we hold each other accountable and we share without asking anything in return. The best part is all the fun we have along the way. The NTEN Award is kind of like our “Spirit” Award: we give it to the NTEN community member who rallies this team by example and encouragement. Today we will honor a leader who has demonstrated selfless commitment, dedication, and loyalty to NTEN and all things NPTech.

Leader, mentor & NPTech catalyst – this is how I see this year’s NTEN award winner. I am inspired by his enthusiasm, wisdom and openness for NTEN and all the amazing work this community is accomplishing. He has inspired me, challenged me, & taught me to see amazing possibilities for technology supporting mission. There is no other individual I can think of who works as hard to ensure the technology we use is built to meet the dreams & mission we all carry in our hearts.  (Bold added).

Here, for example, is a report of a session he did on virtualization.  Here is his bio at Idealware, of which he is a member of the board.  This is his website.  This is some of what he has posted there about his enthusiasm for his new (not yet started) job.

Great Challenges:  Three things thrilled me as I interviewed for LSC.  First, data management is a critical work process.  Not only are grants based on data that communicates about the performance of the grantees’, but the organization is, in turn, measured by the effectiveness of the grantees.  There are compliance and communication challenges that will require some creativity to address. Data strategy is what I do best, and I can’t wait to get started on the work at LSC.

Second, the first thing we discussed in the first interview was the priority to move to the cloud.  As with any large org, that’s not a slam dunk, but as I believe that the cloud is where we’re all headed, eventually, it’s great to be working for and with people who get that as well.  It was a hard sell at my last job.

Finally, LSC does more than just grant funds to legal aid NPOs, they also support the strategic use of technology at those organizations. When I left a job in the early 90’s as a Mailroom Manager/Network Administrator, I did so because technology was my hobby, so I wanted to do it full time.  For the last six or seven years, my “hobby” has been supporting small and mid-sized NPO’s in their use of technology, through this blog, Idealware, NTEN, Techsoup and a number of other orgs that have provided me with the opportunities.  Once again, I can fold my hobby into my day job, which has to be as close to the American dream as it gets, right?

He is going to be a great, energetic, and creative addition to LSC, and particularly to its technology capacity.  I expect we will see much closer collaboration between the TIG team and the internal information operation.

This position reports directly to the President of LSC (see job description), an additional great sign for the future, not just of technology at LSC, but for the whole agency and its mission.  Its a new day there.