No one understands the needs and assets of a community better than community members themselves.

This toolkit offers a framework and step-by-step guidance for developing a community ambassador/liaison program, in which members of the community an organization serves are trained and compensated to share important public health messages with their community and to bring feedback and concerns they hear back to the organization.

Community ambassador programs create direct avenues to include people with lived experience in problem-solving and innovation that help keep their families and neighbors healthy. Community ambassadors are trusted messengers who can be deployed quickly to spread accurate information and combat dangerous myths.

The contents of this toolkit are based on our experience developing the Camden Coalition’s Community Ambassador program, which launched in 2021. Our Community Ambassadors helped share accurate information on testing, vaccination, and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as conducting outreach around Medicaid re-enrollment, behavioral health, lead paint abatement, and more. By sharing back what they hear from their neighbors and families, they serve as a critical bridge between Camden residents and our city’s public health leaders.

Explore the toolkit and supplemental materials below.

Supplemental materials:

• Sample budget model
• Invoice template
• Sample recruitment flyer (English / Spanish)
• Sample program overview
• Sample onboarding guide
• Sample Letter of Agreement (LOA)
• Motivational interviewing video