The Credible Messengers Podcast

Join Kameryn Point, AYPF Policy & Programs Associate, for a panel discussion with our Credible Messenger Podcast hosts who share their insights about what’s needed to make credible messenger programs as effective as possible and what’s next for the credible messenger movement. They also collectively unpack their podcast experience, discuss their motivations for creating the series, and explore much more!

In this episode, host Abdul Ali takes a deeper dive into understanding the role of credible messengers in confronting harms caused by the youth legal system. First, we hear from Erica King, Senior Policy Associate at the University of Southern Maine, about what research tells us regarding the problems with our current legal system and the negative impact it has on young people and public safety. Then, Ali speaks with Hernán Carvente-Martinez about how credible messengers are an essential component to creating healing for young people and communities. They also discuss their own journeys to find healing after involvement with the legal system.

Do Credible Messengers have a role to play in K-12 schools? Host Brittany LaMarr helps us take a look at the landscape in both alternative and traditional public schools, as well as looks at the research. We will speak with Leighton Johnson of Ice The Beef, who serves as a mentor at an alternative high school in New Haven, Connecticut; our own AYPF Youth Policy Consultant Kenvin Lacayo who is a Dean of Students in a middle school in Washington, D.C.; and then we will speak with researcher Dr. Bernadette Sanchez about her research into what she calls “natural mentors.” This is a great episode for teachers and school administrators. Tune in!

Host Armonté Butler talks to his own credible messenger, Yasmine Arrington, and an associate professor at the University of Chicago, Dr. Micere Keels.  Yasmine is the founder and Executive Director of ScholarCHIPS, Inc, an organization that provides college scholarships, mentoring, mental health supports, and a peer support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. Armonté shares from his own experiences and discusses the impact Yasmine (and others) had in his life.  Dr. Keels helps unpack the research around credible messengers and near-peer mentors.  She and Armonté also explore how race, ethnicity, and poverty affect the supports and challenges young people experience.

Host Daftne Sanchez was in the foster system when she was 16. She revisits memories of her time in a group home when she sits down with Serita Cox, the co-founder and CEO of iFoster, and Tyree Crawford, an iFoster TAY member who serves as a peer mentor to foster youth. Serita and Tyree share about iFoster’s innovative peer mentoring program the TAY (Transitional Age Youth) Americorps program, which employs adults who have a history in foster care to mentor youth transitioning out of the foster system.

Host Iliana Pujols sits down with Clinton Lacey, president and CEO of the Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement (CM3), to unpack the term credible messenger to learn what a credible messenger is – and isn’t. Lacey is considered one of the founders of the movement, and he gives us a run down of the work he has done both in New York and DC with credible messenger programs. Previously, Lacey served as Director of the District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) and Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Probation Department.

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