Promoting Transparent, Fair, and Inclusive Practices in Grantmaking: Lessons from the Open and Equitable Model Funding Program.

The Open Research Funders Group (ORFG) has been instrumental in promoting open and equitable scholarship to enhance academic research's transparency and accessibility. In 2020, the ORFG formed the Equity & Open Science Working Group, leading to the launch of the Open & Equitable Model Funding Program in 2021. This program aimed to refine grantmaking processes for broader inclusivity and equitable open scholarship practices. The program gathered a cohort of 11 funding organizations and focused on applying various proposed interventions within existing funding programs to improve grantmaking practices. The initiative highlighted the importance of targeted intervention selection and the need for delimited goal-setting, revealing challenges in implementation due to limited resources and the complexity of the processes involved. Participants valued the pilot for its structured approach and opportunities for shared learning despite some facing complexities in fully implementing the interventions. The ORFG's future approach involves flexible intervention selection, effective resource management, and fostering a collaborative community, aiming for a more inclusive and practical application of open scholarship principles.