Who's This For
This issue is for anyone who says "I don't know what my broader impacts should be."
It's also for those who feel compartmentalized, where outreach feels separate from research feels separate from teaching. For those who feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities and need a way to focus. For those whose institution pushes them in directions that don't quite fit who they are.
The Impact Identity Framework gives you a way to think about where your broader impacts come from, not what activities to do, but why certain activities make sense for you specifically.
The Partnership Moment
Someone asks you about your broader impacts approach and you don't have a clear answer.
You've seen what others do, museum partnerships, K-12 programs, industry collaborations, entrepreneurship support. Some sound interesting. Some sound like a lot of work. None of them feel obviously connected to who you are and what you care about.
So you look at what's convenient, what your institution makes easy, what your colleagues have done before. You find something that fits the proposal and move on.
But something nags at you. Is this really your broader impacts? Or just broader impacts you're doing because the grant requires it?