Children's Ground
Children's Ground does incredible work improving the lives of First Nations people – but getting decision-makers to pay attention is always a challenge. We helped them twice: first by turning their policy ideas into Australia's first plan for Indigenous-led education reform, then by proving their model works with compelling evaluation reports.
Projects delivered:
Turning decades of data into a catalyst for real change.
Rewriting the rules of First Nations education.
“Fireside turned our complex impact evaluation into clear messages for many audiences. We cannot thank you enough for your expertise and patience!”
- Jen Lorains, Director of Research & Evaluation, Children’s Ground
The challenge
Children's Ground had extraordinary data proving their work was transforming First Nations communities for the better. But they had so much evidence it was overwhelming – and different audiences needed different things from it: government needed one thing, philanthropists another, and communities needed their voices and stories honoured.
The charity needed someone to turn their mountains of data into a clear narrative – one that could help them secure funding and change public policy at the same time. No biggie.
The approach
We started by finding the story hiding in the evidence. Then we solved the harder problem: how to make it land with audiences who needed completely different things from it.
The solution was not one report but two:
- A comprehensive evaluation report packed with the full evidence base for researchers and detail-oriented stakeholders
- And a punchy summary report designed for maximum impact with time-poor funders and decision-makers.
We backed these with extra-short summaries to help busy bureaucrats grasp the key points at a glance, and used design to make the whole thing approachable, reams of data and all.
The impact
The reports are now core tools in Children's Ground's funding arsenal, doing exactly what they were designed to do: open doors, change minds, and honour communities all at once.
What we learned:
What we learned:
- Data can only get you so far. For this report, the stats were compelling, but it was the voices and lived experiences that really set this research apart.
- Good visual design can untangle a thorny comms problem, turning the complicated into the digestible.
