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If your grants system primarily funds already-well-off people in privileged positions and a lot of social/professional connections, and it so often does, then your system sucks
If your grants system primarily funds already-well-off people in privileged positions and a lot of social/professional connections, and it so often does, then your system sucks
And yes, fixing this includes dropping the inane "reporting requirements" and "milestones" and "monthly meetings" and whatnot, and just letting people do a thing that you already have an indication that they want to do anyway, and trusting them to do so at their own pace
Deal with it, and stop trying to fucking minmax every part of the process