This project is focused on creating ecosystem change for greater equity in research partnerships by assessing and building on lessons learned from TWCF-funded partnerships, particularly those involving researchers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), through Group Concept Mapping (GCM). Global research partnerships are essential to addressing pressing, interconnected challenges — from health inequities, sustainable development, and climate resilience — yet their transformative potential is often undercut by persistent inequities in how they are structured and experienced. Although equity is widely upheld as a guiding principle, a substantial gap remains between rhetoric and reality: existing frameworks tend to be aspirational rather than operational, and decision-making power, agenda-setting, funding, recognition, and authorship remain disproportionately concentrated in the Global North.

The project led by Subhash Chandir founder/CEO of Grassroots Health Education Development Initiative (GHEDI) aims to develop and pilot tangible Equity Metrics and Monitoring Tools that will enable researchers, funders, and institutions to assess and improve critical dimensions of equity, including power dynamics, authorship distribution, funding flows, and decision-making processes; build capacity among majority-world researchers; and catalyze learning and dialogue across research and philanthropic ecosystems.

The project team will conduct an empirical analysis to identify characteristics of both successful and failed equitable research partnerships across diverse scientific and geographic contexts. Using these insights, they will develop and pilot tangible Equity Metrics and Monitoring Tools. These tools will enable researchers, funders, and institutions to assess and improve critical dimensions of equity, including power dynamics, authorship distribution, funding flows, and decision-making processes.

photo credit: GHEDI