Harriet Meyer, MA, has been president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund in Chicago, IL, since 1991. She believes that improving opportunities for low-income children during their earliest years is the best way to strengthen our democratic and economic institutions, a conclusion she reached, together with her husband, Ulrich, more than 20 years ago.

Ms. Meyer began her career literally by knocking on doors, searching for people and organizations working with at-risk children. She found Bernice Weissbourd and Irving Harris, founders of Family Focus, Inc. and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, respectively. Their mission was "to take academe to the street," putting research into practice for young children. Ms. Meyer decided, "this [strategy] was the answer" for young children.

Early on, Ms. Meyer learned that advocacy and programming go hand in hand, and the Ounce of Prevention Fund is engaged in both. They fulfill their mission, "...promoting healthy development of the very young: birth to five years," through five areas of operation: (1) direct service programming; (2) training and support for community-based organizations; (3) public policy advocacy; (4) research and evaluation; and (5) development of replicable best-practice models.

One of her current endeavors is co-chairing Governor Blagojevich's Early Learning Council. The council's recent report, Preschool for All: High-Quality Early Education for all of Illinois' Children, outlines an innovative strategy to make pre-k available to all three and four year olds and to increase resources for infants and toddlers at risk. Her other priorities include supporting communities interested in developing "Educare" centers and embedding "doulas," birth assistants to teen mothers, into early childhood programs.

During her career, Ms. Meyer says the Ounce's advocacy efforts "have grown ten fold," and the nature of the work has changed. Today's landscape is about complex relationships and collaborative work. To be effective, organizations need "more boots on the ground," and crucially, the right ones for each situation because, "who carries the message is as important as the message itself." To reach legislators, for example, effective grassroots advocacy is extremely powerful because "policymakers respect their constituents."

Ultimately, effective advocacy means knowing your content and using it strategically. The Ounce spends a great deal of time distilling research and policy documents, making key messages accessible to those people who need to use or hear them.

Ms. Meyer says that early childhood work must begin early and be intensive and long term. Pre-k programs play a crucial role in nurturing the development of young children.

In 1996, Ms. Meyer participated in the creation of Illinois's Early Childhood Block Grant, of which 11 percent is earmarked for children under three. She claims this as one of her proudest achievements because she says, "it institutionalizes in policy what the research shows: that learning begins at birth."

Pre-k has remained a high priority in Illinois over the past decade, and the governor is committed to carrying out the recommendations of the Early Learning Council. Illinois’ goal is to fully fund the Preschool for All program by 2011, and the state’s proven record of support gives every reason to believe the goal will be met. In 2006 alone, the pre-k budget features an appropriation of $283.2 million for three and four year olds plus an additional $5 million (11 cents of every pre-k dollar) for infant and toddler services.

Over the years, Ms. Meyer says, she's learned that advocates must "do what's important, not what's urgent;" that is, "maintaining a voice for what we know is the right approach" even when it isn't immediately gratifying or politically expedient.

Ms. Meyer is mindful of the unique challenges the pre-k-for-all agenda presents for organizations that focus on at-risk children. While the goal of services for more children may be ideal, she cautions that expansion cannot take precedence over quality. It is essential "to do no harm." Overall, she believes that adequately financing pre-k is still the greatest challenge facing advocates and service providers.

In addressing these challenges, Ms. Meyer recommends tenacity. "We have to consistently educate decision makers and focus on what families really need," and, she adds, the opportunity to capitalize on this work is at hand. "Our time," she says, "is now."