Geania B. Dickey is the immediate past chair of AECA’s Public Policy Committee. Geania has been named a National Exchange Leader and the recipient of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Friend of Children Award, among others. Her work in ECE began when her oldest son was a toddler and will tell you that she felt a renewed commitment to this work following the birth of her grandchildren. Geania went back to school “as a grown up” to earn a Master’s in Public Administration.
I have been at this advocacy thing a L-O-N-G time. And I have learned there are as many ways to do it as there are people doing it. In this moment, I felt it might be helpful to share something important I have learned.
There are people standing behind you – even if you can’t see them.
This past week, I had the opportunity to speak to a body of Arkansas legislators in a meeting of the Early Childhood subcommittee. There were dozens of friends and colleagues literally sitting behind me when it was my turn to speak. That sort of support has such a strong impact and always helps me feel a bit braver.
But here’s what folks in the room couldn’t see: Later that day, as the meeting concluded, I received SO MANY beautiful texts from colleagues who had been watching the livestream (you can watch a recording of the meeting here) from their place of work. Colleagues, who for various reasons, could not make the trek to Little Rock on a Tuesday but found ways to stay connected, informed, and supportive.
One of my favorites among them was a screenshot of her computer (with post-it notes all around it) while I was talking. The thing that struck me was that in the picture I could see she had been using closed caption. That said to me, in this time of grant renewal and budget crunching, imperative to her work and the ECE organization she works for… she had still found a way to join us.
So when we think of early childhood advocacy and what it means, I would split it into three buckets:
1) Forward facing
2) Behind the scenes
3) Sidelines
Forward facing is what a group of us had the opportunity to do this week. We could literally be in the room with state legislators and Department of Education leaders to discuss our concerns. One of my favorite moments is when Sen. Fred Love (one of our most ardent early childhood supporters) asked the audience if they too had similar concerns as the speaker and almost everyone’s hand went up. It was very powerful.
But I ALSO know things happened Tuesday behind the scenes – folks were sharing data with us to use in our presentation, while others shared their story and we shared your quotes with legislators. Colleagues had met with those of us doing the talking to serve as thought partners for our message. You may have reached out to your legislator and that is why they decided to show up. EVERY ONE of those things had the SAME value if not more than my 10 minutes of talking. You see, without your informing these decision makers of the issue and encouraging their attendance, who would I have been talking to? Without the help of the messaging and the accurate data to share – what is the value of my 10 minutes?
Our field is so diverse and so are the structures within which we work. Some of us have the burden of being self-employed which provides added challenges and no safety net. But it also provides a great deal of latitude on what we do, when we do it, and what we say. Others are employed at organizations, both large and small, with very specific policies about “doing and saying.” And on top of that are the personal responsibilities or the health considerations we may have. What I am hoping to convey is… we can’t all be forward facing in our advocacy and THAT IS OKAY!!
Last bucket – sidelines. If in this time of great change, you have yet to find the way to advocate – I hope you will consider moving away from the sidelines and get in the game. We need you! We are SO MUCH stronger and louder together. Over the next three days I am going to share ideas on things you can do to get started. And if I see you at the AECA conference this coming week, I want to hear ALL about IT!
P.S. This is a shout out to EVERYONE who has talked to a reporter, written a letter to the editor, and let news crews come into your program. ALL examples of forward facing advocacy – It IS making a difference! And hurray to the 100’s of colleagues who represented us at the capital on Wednesday for “A Day Without Child Care”! Thank YOU for showing the world your passion and dedication – Thank YOU for repping the team!
Geania B. Dickey
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