What does credible messenger mean for a CDC?

Visitor Question: Someone at our CDC board meeting last night kept reinforcing the need for a credible messenger. What exactly does that mean? I understand the two words but it didn't seem like the topic was better public relations. What do you think this is about? I don't have the fancy degrees that other board members have.

Editors Reply: It's important that CDC boards of directors include a wide diversity of stakeholders in your community, and you don't need a fancy degree, or any degree, to be a forceful and credible representative of your community. Stick with what you know, but also don't be afraid to ask other board members for an explanation when you don't understand what they are saying.

The phrase "credible messenger" has come into the vocabulary of social work and community work to emphasize the fact that often the believability of the messenger is important in determining whether or not a community accepts the message being delivered.

So don't let the big-sounding phrase distract you. A credible messenger will be someone who will be believed; most often current language usage is conveying that the messenger is someone like the rest of the community.

A credible messenger for the fifth grade class is another fifth grader, or maybe a sixth or seventh grader. Someone's grouchy old great-uncle isn't a credible messenger. The school principal may not be a credible messenger either.

Some social workers I know seem to think that only Black social workers can have enough credibility to tell African-American communities something important and be believed. I don't think so, because I think credibility can be earned over time.

Whether the credibility arises because the person delivering the news or advice is perceived as being like the person hearing the message in some way, or whether the messenger has been showing up and showing sincerity in enough ways that the person is believed doesn't really matter to me.

In the context of your CDC, if your board has a credible messenger among you, by virtue of their race, ethnicity, gender, education, or economic status being the same as the intended audience for the message, by all means, use that credible messenger.

However, I wouldn't be content with that. Other board members have talents too, and some of them might be better communicators overall than the "credible messenger." Thus it is important for every board to increase the credibility of each of its members to the extent possible. When board members extend good will to the residents or business owners, without looking down on them for some reason, over time this will pay the dividend of increased capability. It also is very helpful when board members show the humility to pitch in and do the not-so-glamorous work of community development and community improvement. A board member could increase credibility--and thereby give the board another "credible messenger"--by learning all they can about the community being served, its history, culture, and needs.

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