This brief document provides a discussion of the project’s Implications for Practice, including cautions about credible messenger and LEM models, considerations for program design, and considerations for program delivery.
Information provided in this document is based on the National Mentoring Research Center’s (NMRC) summative review of the available research on credible messenger and other lived experience mentoring (LEM) models; it explores the effectiveness of those programs as well as when, where, and how they can most effectively support young people with a range of needs. Another contributing source of information for this Implications document is practitioner wisdom obtained from more than 70 people at a Listening Session on Credible Messenger Mentoring, held on June 5, 2024. In this document, the authors further define the spectrum of credible messenger and LEM and consider its potential benefits and challenges; they also provide recommendations on program design and delivery.