Story Stacks is the foundation guide. It's also completely free: all 8 issues, all tools, no subscription required.
Each issue takes about 15-20 minutes to read. Most faculty read one issue, use the interactive tool, and come back when they have time for the next one. The series is designed for busy people.
What's inside Story Stacks
Issue 1: The Story You're Already Telling. What is an impact identity, and why does it matter for partnerships? Introduces the 6-dimension Impact Identity framework. Includes the Impact Identity Self-Assessment tool.
Issue 2: Finding Your Characters. The people, places, and partners that show up repeatedly in your work. Who is your work actually for?
Issue 3: Your Impact Identity Dimensions. Mapping the 6 dimensions of impact identity in depth. Where do you show up strongest? Where are the gaps?
Issue 4: The Two-Card Exercise. A concrete tool for discovering the impact story you're already living. Works in 20 minutes or less.
Issue 5: Your Legacy Map. Connecting past, present, and future impact. The through-line you may not have seen yet.
Issue 6: Making Your Story Legible. How to translate your impact identity for different audiences: review panels, community partners, department chairs, students.
Issue 7: Your Impact Identity as a Proposal Asset. Using your story in grant writing. How a clear identity makes broader impacts sections easier to write and more compelling to reviewers.
Issue 8: From Story to System. Building infrastructure that carries your impact forward. What does it look like when individual impact identity connects to partnership design?
How to read this guide
Start with Issue 1. It works on its own. You don't need to commit to all 8 issues before you know if this is useful.
Each issue includes an interactive tool you can use directly in your browser (no download, no install) and a downloadable resource you can print or share with a cohort.
If you're working with a group (a CAREER faculty cohort, a research center, a graduate training program), Issue 1 makes a good 20-minute workshop activity. The interactive maps individual identity dimensions; the conversation about what the group shares is where the real value is.
All free. Start anywhere.