Every week I sit down to write this and I think, how is it possible that there are this many people out there quietly changing the world? No press teams. No big budgets. Just people who decided their community needed a champion and showed up anyway. That's what Advocacy at Work is all about. This week's three advocates are the proof. Let's get into it.
Jackie George — Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SickleCellFndofGA
Some people spend a career building something meaningful. Jackie George built a legacy. This week, Jackie was recognized in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed for her extraordinary service to the sickle cell community — and if you know anything about the AJC, you know they don't hand out that kind of recognition lightly. What struck me reading about Jackie's work is that the word they kept coming back to wasn't 'effective' or 'impactful' — it was heart. That's not an accident. That's a life's work showing through. The sickle cell community in Georgia has fought for visibility for decades, and Jackie has been a steady, purposeful presence through all of it. She's a reminder that you don't need a title or a platform with millions of followers to make an immeasurable difference. You need clarity of purpose and the willingness to keep showing up. Jackie has both in abundance. If you're not following the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, go fix that right now.
Dan Shockley — FAP & AFAP Advocate
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-dry-dock-shockley-854723223/
Dan 'Dry Dock' Shockley is the kind of advocate that makes legislators pay attention. Not because he's loud, but because he's consistent. Dan has been working with his California congressional members year after year to bring awareness to Familial Adenomatous Polyposis and Attenuated FAP, and this week that persistence paid off in a big way. California State Senator Roger Niello introduced a concurrent resolution recognizing FAP Awareness Week for 2026, and it was approved. Let that sink in. A resolution. In the California legislature. Because Dan showed up, built relationships, and didn't stop. He does this work alongside his ostomy nurse Joyce Moss, and I want to make sure we recognize her too, advocates don't operate in a vacuum, and the healthcare providers who walk alongside them matter enormously. Dan's story is a masterclass in what sustained, relationship-based advocacy actually looks like. It's not one viral moment. It's years of handshakes and follow-up emails and being in the room one more time.
LeQuina Knox and Chatequa Pinkston — FL SAND Fellows & Developmental Disabilities Advocates
LeQuina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lequinaknox/
Chatequa: https://www.instagram.com/chatequap/
Advocacy works best when people with lived experience walk into the rooms where decisions are made. That's exactly what LeQuina Knox and Chatequa Pinkston did this week. As Florida SAND Fellows they met with Florida State Representative Fentrice Driskell during DD Day 2026 to talk about what Floridians with developmental disabilities actually need. Not in the abstract. In person. Face to face. I love this story because it represents something fundamental about how change happens: connection. You can send emails. You can sign petitions. But when constituents look a legislator in the eye and say 'here's what my community is living' — that's when things start to shift. LeQuina and Chatequa are early in what I suspect will be long and meaningful advocacy journeys, and I'm glad to be paying attention now. Follow their work and watch what happens.
That's Vol. 4. Three advocates. Three different communities. One shared commitment to showing up for the people who need them most.
If you found this meaningful, the best thing you can do is share it with someone who needs to see that advocacy is alive and well. And if you know someone who deserves to be featured: a patient advocate, a caregiver, a community organizer doing the quiet hard work, nominate them. I read every submission.
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