Revision 12 as of 2016-05-03 03:02:28

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Candidates for the 2016 PSF Board of Directors

The following people have been nominated as Directors of the Python Software Foundation for the term beginning in May 2016. Their self-written summaries follow. The specific dates of relevance to the election are:

  • Day 1: May 5, 2016 AoE - announcement is made
  • Day 10: May 15, 2016 AoE - nominations and voting eligibility closes
  • Day 15: May 20, 2016 AoE - Ballots are sent
  • Day 25: May 30, 2016 AoE - election closes

The above closing times are given in the "Anywhere on Earth" (AOE) timezone.

There are currently 11 seats on the Board of Directors (last changed in the 2012 PSF Members vote).

Registering as a PSF Board candidate

To register as a candidate for the Board elections, add your nomination to this page using the format listed at the end of the page. We'd like as many groups within the PSF membership as possible to have the option of electing candidates that can directly represent their interests in Board discussions, so if there's someone you'd particularly like to have represent you, you may want to consider getting in touch with them and (politely!) asking if they'd be interested in nominating themselves.

Read through the Letter from PSF Director of Operations - Expectations of Board Directors & Duties and Responsibilities of Directors. Please note that the PSF bylaws require that Board candidates disclose significant organizational affiliations (for example, their employer).

Note

Please follow the instructions on the FrontPage to gain wiki edit access.

Registering to vote on PSF ballots

While PSF Membership is open to anyone that chooses to join, Basic Members are not entitled to vote on PSF ballots, including Board elections. In accordance with the bylaws, the following PSF Members are entitled to vote on PSF ballots:

To register as a Managing or Contributing member, refer to this post on the PSF blog.

To register as a Supporting Member, please use the PSF Associate Membership site.

PSF Fellows and Sponsor Members must themselves be approved through a PSF ballot, and thus only existing Fellows and Sponsor Delegates will be entitled to vote on the upcoming ballot.

Outgoing Directors

The following members of the 2015/16 Board are stepping down and will not be registering as candidates for the 2016/17 Board:


Please use the following format:

Candidate Name
==============

*2015 Board Member.* or *New Board Member.*

Description.

Affiliation: ...

----

Naomi Ceder

2015 Board Member

I've been using, promoting and teaching Python on various levels for over 15 years as a teacher, author, developer, manager, and organizer.

My Contributions to the PSF in 2015/2016:

  • Co-created PSF Grants Working Group. The Grants WG is a step towards delegating some the PSF's decisions to a broader geographical group, and also gives more people experience in managing the PSF. The Grants WG has developed into a key resource in managing grants given to community events, having approved around $40,000 in grants.
  • Assisted in interviewing for new role of PSF Infrastructure Manager.
  • Actively supported the PSF's involvement in the BBC micro:bit project in the UK.
  • Supported the creation of Python initiatives in Nigeria by helping get access to a mailing list, and advice on organization and grant requests; and Cameroon by coordinating with projects applying for PSF support.
  • Gave keynotes at PyCon UK, PyCon Ireland, PyCon Poland
  • Coordinated and co-presented 2015 EuroPython PSF members' meeting.
  • Attended 16 out of 17 PSF board meetings.

My goals for 2016/2017 as a board member would be to do all that I can to help the PSF achieve its mission in any way that I can. In particular, I'm interested in:

  • Foster Diversity - Diversity means more than increasing the numbers of women or nationalities (though both of those are important) - it involves thinking about a wide range of axes - race, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, economic background, etc. I want to ensure that the Python community is as inclusive and welcoming as possible along all of those axes and more.
  • Develop New Leaders - I believe that for an organization to be inclusive thought and effort must be put into opening all aspects to new people. My practice has been to deliberately hand off projects I've started as soon as practical once they are established, and I would view a board position the same way. I would also encourage and support a healthy turnover in board committee and working group leadership and membership, so that more people gain leadership experience.
  • Support Education - Support for education is more than funding workshops - I'd like to encourage initiatives to improve pedagogy, tools, and resources for the various groups teaching Python, perhaps starting with a working group aimed at curricula and teaching resources.
  • Evolve PSF management - As the community grows, the role of the PSF board needs to adapt. I will continue to support changes to make the PSF board have more of an oversight role and to develop other means to handle managerial and executive duties

Background:

  • Founded Trans*Code, the first hackday series in Europe and UK to exclusively focus on issues of the transgender community
  • Keynotes and talks on Python, Diversity, and Community at PyCon UK, PyCon PL, PyCon Ireland, ACE!Conf (Krakow, Poland), Write/Speak/Code 2016, EuroPython, PyCon US, PyLadies, and others.
  • PyCon organizer - Co-chair of PyCon Sprints in 2015, 2016 and organized the PyCon Intro to Sprinting workshop; created/coordinated the first two education summits at PyCon; created/organized the poster session at PyCon for its first 3 years.
  • PyCon UK organiser - Education Track Presenter at PyCon UK 2014; organising committee for PyCon UK 2015; created the first poster session at PyCon UK; Code of Conduct response team; Trans*Code at PyCon coordinator.
  • Author of The Quick Python Book, 2nd ed. (3rd ed in preparation).
  • Currently based in Chicago,II USA, but still involved with projects in the UK. Work with Python developers in USA, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Africa.

As a senior technical leader at a company that relies heavily on Python I'm very interested in the long term health and growth of Python and the Python community.

Finally, I take commitments to positions like this seriously - I absolutely hate to miss meetings or deadlines, and I make sure tasks I'm assigned "just get done" with as little fuss as possible.

Affiliation: W. W. Grainger, Trans*Code

Carol Willing

2015 Board Member.

I have been honored to serve on the PSF this past term. I continue to be humbled by our community members, their achievements, and dedication in the many areas served by the Python language. If you are considering running for the board, I encourage you to do so and share your strengths, talents, and ideas with the PSF.

PSF Highlights for the 2015-2016 Term

With hard work by PSF board members, PSF Operations staff, and many volunteers in the Python community, the PSF achieved the following highlights:

  • PSF Sustainability: Approved the expansion of the PSF staff to provide continuity in PSF operations and support and grow the community and language. Hiring an Event Coordinator and Administrator, IT Manager, additional blog writer.
  • Transparency: Reorganized the PSF mailing lists to provide greater transparency to the community about the PSF. Retired psf-members. Created psf-vote, psf-community.
  • Governance and Organizational Structure: PSF Grants, Scientific Python, Python Cuba, Python Education workgroups. Retired Sprints, Outreach & Education groups.
  • Community recognition: Community service awards and Frank Willison award. Recognition of Google Summer of Code organizer, mentors, and its participants
  • Advancing the Python Language: Supported trial development to port Twisted functionality to Python 3 and projects including pytest, tox, and open source conference registration software.

My Contribution to the PSF community

  • Participated in 16 of 17 board meetings (Attended 14. By proxy 2.)

  • Worked to improve governance and transparency. Authored New Director onboarding guide. Researched nonprofit best practices via BoardSource and other materials.

  • Performed community outreach and welcomed newcomers to Python, including:

    • Keynote speaker for PyCon Philippines 2016.
    • Workshop organizer, speaker, and panelist at Grace Hopper Celebration 2015.
    • Panelist and Mentor at Write/Speak/Code 2015 (and upcoming 2016). Outreach at SciPy 2015, DjangoCon 2015, PyTennessee 2016. Mentor, Django Girls. Organizer, PyLadies booth and Arts & Music Birds of a Feather meeting at SCALE (Southern California Linux Expo) 2016. Speaker on Interactive Data Science Collaboration, CineGrid 2015.
  • Member, Scientific Python Workgroup.

  • Volunteer for PyCon 2016. Tutorial committee. Program committee.

Goals for 2016-2017

  • Continued focus on the PSF’s organizational growth, operations, sustainability, and community transparency.
  • Strive for professionalism, kindness, and thoughtfulness when working with board members, staff, and volunteers.
  • Support the core workflow changes for CPython as well as projects that help onboard contributors.
  • Recruit individuals to run for the PSF Board 2017-2018, work toward diverse international representation on the board, and foster fresh ideas for fulfilling the PSF’s mission.

Thank you.

Affiliation: Project Jupyter, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Willing Consulting, Fab Lab San Diego.

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