Women In Fire: Changing The Culture, Not The Woman

Episode 13: Belonging Over Fitting In with Melinda “Min” McDonaldIn this episode of What the Fire, I’m joined by Melinda “Min” McDonald CF, Senior Firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW, President of Women and Firefighting Australasia, Churchill Fellow, and PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney.Min’s work sits at the intersection of operational firefighting, organisational culture, leadership, inclusion, and community risk reduction. In this conversation, we explore what it means to belong in the fire service, rather than simply fit in.Min shares her journey into firefighting, her experience as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated profession, and the importance of creating workplaces where people can show up as themselves and do their best work.We also discuss her Churchill Fellowship, where she investigated co-designed community risk reduction programs around the world, and her doctoral research into organisational culture in Australian fire services and the role of cultural humility in shaping safer, more inclusive leadership and workplace practice.This is a conversation about women in firefighting, leadership, identity, culture, community, and the systems and structures that either help people thrive or hold them back.In this episode, we discuss:Women in firefighting and the importance of representationThe difference between belonging and fitting inOrganisational culture in emergency servicesCultural humility and inclusive leadershipCommunity-centred emergency managementCo-designed community risk reduction programsWhat needs to change for women and diverse people to enter, stay, and thrive in the fire serviceMelinda Min McDonald LinkedInWomen and Firefighting AustralasiaForensic Origin and Cause Investigations⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠Vithyaa Thavapalan ⁠LinkedIn