"My job," says Roy Miller, president of the Children's Campaign, Inc., "is to give children what I've had, to see that they have great opportunities to go on and have a life of choices." Before becoming an advocate for Florida's youngest children, Mr. Miller worked with street youth. Through that work, he identified early intervention as the best strategy for children.

Mr. Miller himself attended a pre-k program, and his first memory of school, he says, is of first grade, when many of the other students seemed lost. "I felt like I was ahead of the class, and when I came back around [professionally], it was like, 'oh yeah, I remember this!'"

These recollections only strengthened his belief in early intervention and education. Through the Children's Campaign, Inc., he has married this conviction with his experience as a youth advocate and with his existing political skills and relationships to produce a formidable advocacy organization.

The Children's Campaign's mission, which they satisfy by serving as a collaborative resource, connecting citizens, providers, and advocates with the political process, is to advance policies and appropriations that benefit children. They do year-round opinion polling, political lobbying, and grassroots outreach, because, Mr. Miller warns, "You can't wait 'til the first day of the legislative session."

Currently, Florida's pre-k-for-all mandate is his top priority. "It's moving and we're not going to stop until we have a high-quality program,"says Mr. Miller. The recent legislative and gubernatorial elections offer the opportunity to raise new pre-k champions around the state.

Mr. Miller says many advocates are too provider and expert driven. They should focus instead, he advises, on building collaborations with citizens and on providing stakeholders with information and access, empowering them to make the case directly to policymakers.

He acknowledges that, "what works and what [advocates] can afford aren't always the same," and he recommends creative approaches. He cites state-to-state sharing as a key strategy and e-advocacy as a powerful, low-cost tool. He also encourages tapping "thoughtful media outlets" to facilitate communication with the public.

All of these approaches depend, says Mr. Miller, on one crucial skill: listening. He advises, "Listen before you lead. ...Take your audience's values and views into account then talk to them about what's in their hearts and souls. When you do that, people will open up to the data."

Mr. Miller believes the momentum around pre-k reflects Floridians' priorities. With so many seniors and young children, problems require a multi-generational solution, and policies that foster success at every age are essential for the state's future.

Seniors, he insists, share this view, and he claims them as inspired allies. "They know," he says, "from their own lives, what these services mean. They see their own kids struggling to find good childcare and to make sure their children are prepared to succeed. They know what we have isn't enough. They want high quality."

So, too, does Mr. Miller, because, he says, "mediocrity should never be the goal," but he is still proud of the progress already made in Florida. "There's still a lot of work to do, but we're in the game now."

Funding remains the most important challenge for pre-k advocates, Mr. Miller believes, particularly as states expand availability while building quality. He cites leadership development within the community as critical to building support and securing resources.

Communication, he says, is easiest when advocates seize their opportunities. "When you talk with voters about children, they think older and in two categories: threats (teenagers) or victims (ages 6-12). So you ask, 'how do you think they got that way? Do you think it has to do with when they were younger, like under five?' And you explain about school readiness and life success and about how problems start early, and you've got 'em."