At Girls on Fire, we don’t just run programs for girls and young people from underrepresented communities, we measure impact so we know exactly how they make a difference.

Our mission is to build confidence, resilience, and leadership skills so young people can step up in emergencies and everyday life. We also create pathways into volunteering and careers in fire and emergency services. We have just commissioned Think Impact to start working with us to strengthen our impact measurement and reporting via a dedicated Impact Measurement Framework, thanks to the Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI). 

How We Measure What Works

We use a mix of surveys, observations, creative activities, and video interviews to get a full picture of our impact.

These include:

Standard measurements 

Participant and volunteer surveys: at the close of each program, we ask participants and volunteers to give feedback via short QR-code surveys. These include questions about the activities and experience overall through likeability ratings, multiple choice, and open-ended questions.

Post-program wrap sessions: after specialist programs and two-day programs, we run in person or virtual sessions for half an hour with volunteers and mentors to ask what we did well, what could improve, and gain general insights and impressions.  

Internal Program Reports: after each program, program coordinators and/or operational staff note attendance, highlights, challenges, and anything notable from the day. That way, we can learn and create the best program experience possible.

Event registration data: demographics, safety info, and attendance data help us understand who joins and ensure we reach underrepresented communities.

Online analytics: we use social media analytics, web traffic analytics, and newsletter engagement to help create a broader picture of our participants and volunteers, where they come from, how they interact with us, and their level of engagement.

Increasing engagement

We're also trying new methods to get better data and make it more engaging.

Arts-based engagement: during the VPP, we trialled Impact Measurement Questions (IMQ) with Dr Amy McKernan. Girls completed individual free writing and arts activities and used feeling-based stickers to show how much they enjoyed the program.

We also run platoon-based sessions designed to collect words, feelings and impressions as a group about the day.

This lets us capture honest, personal reflections.

Vox Pops: in Bangholme, Victoria, we recorded 30–60 second video interviews with volunteers to get authentic feedback that surveys sometimes miss.

Backed by Research

Our programs are grounded in solid evidence. Girls Fire and Resilience Program Evaluation (Lambert & O’Connor, Monash University) showed that our programs boost young women’s ability to respond to, recover from, and rebuild after emergencies (Monash University). Gender and Disaster (Bronnie Mackintosh, 2022) highlights why including girls and young women in emergency programs strengthens communities (Gender and Disaster Journal). Alternative pedagogies research (Karen Lambert, 2018) shows hands-on, creative learning increases engagement and resilience in young women (Taylor & Francis).

Built on a Churchill Fellowship

Bronnie Mackintosh was awarded a Churchill Fellowship, which inspired the creation of Girls on Fire. She studied emergency and resilience programs in Canada, France, India, Japan, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. The research showed the need for national diversity targets in fire agencies, tracking recruitment and retention, recognising external experience, running youth programs like cadets and girls fire camps, supporting community engagement, and improving media representation.

Girls on Fire directly addresses these recommendations by running hands-on fire programs, providing leadership opportunities, and offering visible role models for young women and diverse communities in Australia.

Why It Matters

We believe impact isn’t just numbers, it’s real experiences, real confidence, and real skills. By combining research, creative engagement, and smart data collection, Girls on Fire programs create measurable change. Young people gain confidence and leadership skills. Volunteers and coordinators get insight to improve programs. Communities become more resilient, prepared, and inclusive.

Girls on Fire is more than a program, it’s a movement turning research into action, anxiety into leadership, and participation into measurable impact.

Want to book a program for your town? Get in touch now.