Volunteer Research & Impact Lead

Volunteer Research & Impact Lead

Cosmic Girls Foundation

Remote | Volunteer | Approximately 5–10 hours per week

About Cosmic Girls

Cosmic Girls Foundation is a global nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for girls in STEM, leadership, and the space sector.

Through our flagship
6 Girls, 6 Continents
initiative, girls from around the world compete for the opportunity to become one of six finalists selected for astronaut training, with one girl ultimately flying to space. As we prepare for this historic mission, we are launching a new initiative:

The Cosmic Girls Resilience & Possibility Project

A first-of-its-kind longitudinal study designed to explore how extraordinary opportunities influence resilience, leadership identity, self-efficacy, STEM aspirations, and perceived possibility in girls across six continents.

The project will follow participants through key stages of the Cosmic Girls journey—from application and selection to astronaut training and spaceflight preparation—while exploring how transformative experiences shape confidence, ambition, leadership, and future aspirations. We are seeking a volunteer Research & Impact Lead to help shape and build this initiative from the ground up.

About the Role

This is an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys creating rather than simply managing.

Rather than stepping into an existing research project, you will help design the framework, methodology, and measurement strategy for what could become one of the most unique longitudinal studies focused on girls, leadership, resilience, and possibility.

You will work directly with the Cosmic Girls leadership team to develop a practical and meaningful approach to understanding the long-term impact of the Cosmic Girls journey.

This project sits at the intersection of research, storytelling, leadership development, and space exploration. The successful candidate will help explore how quantitative and qualitative data—including surveys, interviews, participant reflections, astronaut training experiences, and documentary footage—can be combined to better understand how transformative opportunities shape the lives of girls around the world.

Opportunity

Help design a first-of-its-kind longitudinal study following girls from six continents through astronaut selection, training, and spaceflight preparation, combining survey data, interviews, and documentary storytelling to understand how extraordinary opportunities shape resilience, leadership, and perceived possibility.

Key Responsibilities

Research Design

• Help develop the Cosmic Girls Resilience & Possibility Project.
• Refine the Cosmic Girls Possibility Index.
• Advise on survey design and measurement tools.
• Help identify meaningful indicators of resilience, leadership, confidence, self-efficacy, and opportunity perception.
• Contribute to the development of a longitudinal research framework that can grow over multiple competition cycles.

Research Innovation & Storytelling

• Explore ways to integrate survey data, participant interviews, reflections, astronaut training observations, and documentary footage into a cohesive research framework.
• Help develop approaches for measuring both observable and self-reported transformation over time.
• Advise on mixed-methods research approaches that combine quantitative and qualitative data.
• Help identify compelling stories and insights emerging from the research.

Strategic Development

• Help create a long-term research roadmap.
• Advise on longitudinal study design and participant tracking.
• Recommend best practices for data collection across multiple countries and cultures.
• Help ensure the project remains practical, scalable, and scientifically credible.

Partnerships & Collaboration

• Identify potential university and academic partners.
• Advise on opportunities for future publication and research collaboration.
• Help connect Cosmic Girls with researchers and institutions aligned with the mission.
• Support the development of an external advisory network of researchers and experts.

Impact Measurement

• Advise on how program impact can be measured and communicated effectively.
• Help translate findings into meaningful insights for donors, partners, educators, policymakers, and media.
• Contribute to annual impact reporting and thought leadership efforts.

Qualifications

We welcome candidates from a variety of backgrounds, including:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Human Development
• Positive Psychology
• Program Evaluation
• Social Sciences
• Youth Development
• STEM Education
• Leadership Development
• Research Methodology

Ideal candidates may be:

• PhD candidates
• Researchers
• Academics
• Program evaluators
• Impact measurement professionals
• Retired professionals with relevant experience

Experience We Value

• Designing research studies or program evaluations
• Survey development and data collection
• Mixed-methods research (quantitative and qualitative)
• Longitudinal studies or participant tracking
• Working with youth-focused programs
• Academic partnerships or research collaborations
• Translating research into accessible reports and stories

The Ideal Candidate

You are intellectually curious, mission-driven, and excited by the challenge of creating something new. You enjoy connecting ideas across disciplines and are interested in understanding how transformative experiences shape confidence, leadership, resilience, and future aspirations.

You are comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment where the framework is still being built and where your ideas can have a meaningful influence on the final outcome.

You are excited by the possibility of helping create a research initiative that may ultimately combine:

• Longitudinal surveys
• Interviews and participant reflections
• Astronaut training experiences
• Documentary footage
• Spaceflight preparation
• Long-term impact tracking

into a unique body of knowledge about girls, possibility, leadership, and human development.

Time Commitment

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Flexible schedule
• Fully remote
• Volunteer position

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to help build a research initiative from its earliest stages while contributing to a mission that aims to expand what girls believe is possible for themselves.

Together, we hope to better understand not only the impact of a journey to space, but how access to extraordinary opportunities can transform the lives of girls around the world.

The insights generated through this work have the potential to inform education, leadership development, STEM engagement, and girls' empowerment efforts globally.

To Apply

Please send:

• Your motivation letter explaining why this project resonates with you and CV to Mindyhoward@cosmicgirls.org
• Your CV or LinkedIn profile

We welcome applicants from around the world who are excited to help shape a bold new research initiative at the intersection of space, human potential, and opportunity creation for girls.