Credible messengers share unique lived experiences, especially of criminalization, with the people and communities they serve. They are people who have transformed their lives to help vulnerable people do the same. The New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity and Young Men’s Initiative funded the Urban Institute to examine the current gaps in the literature on credible messengers, situate credible messengers in their historical and systemic contexts, and examine the everyday use of credible messengers by organizations and agencies in New York City.

Community-engaged methods (CEM) and participatory action research (PAR) were central to our study. We used CEM by engaging New York City stakeholders including funders, city agency leaders and staff, and organizational leaders and staff in key project activities and deliverables, including the project design, literature review, an inventory of agencies and organizations, a workshop, and the final report. Additionally, we used an adaptation of the Street PAR framework, by which we hired and trained four credible messengers as researchers on our project team to contribute to and co-lead every component of the study.

We collected data for this study by holding individual and small-group interviews with 14 New York City officials and stakeholders, surveying 30 organizations who employ credible messengers, and conducting interviews with leaders, credible messengers, and people receiving services from three community-based organizations. Through these activities, we shed light on the meaning and titles of credible messengers and lived experience; the recruitment, training, and qualifications of credible messengers; the communities credible messengers serve, the services they provide, and perceived impacts on themselves and others; and the characteristics and trajectories of agencies and organizations that employ credible messengers. From our study we developed eight key recommendations for policymakers, organizations, and agencies.

In this report, we document some of the critical work credible messengers do in New York City and share eight key recommendations for how organizations and agencies that employ credible messengers can increase their capacity, impact, and sustainability.