PSF Grants Workgroup Charter

Purpose & Common Goals

The mission of the Python Software Foundation is to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse and international community of Python programmers. Grants given out by the PSF or any PSF work group must fit within our non-profit mission. The PSF Board delegated authority to the Grants Work Group to review, approve, and deny grant funding proposals for Python conferences, training workshops, Meetups, development projects, and other related Python initiatives.

Active Time

The Grants Work Group is active indefinitely and reports to the PSF Board of Directors.

Core Values & Internal Governance

The core values of this group are:

• Respect
• Support
• Positive Atmosphere
• Constructive
• Integrity

The Grants Work Group is governed by the PSF Code of Conduct. Any actions made against the principles in the Code of Conduct will result in a report submitted to the PSF Code of Conduct Work Group. The Chair or Vice Chairs reserve the right to moderate Work Group members on the psf-grants mailing list.

Membership

• The Grants Work Group (GWG) Chair administers the GWG and is a member of the PSF staff. The Vice Chair and appointed Board Director help facilitate reviews, votes, and recommendations for the PSF Board to review. GWG membership is voluntary and individuals must be from the Python community.

• The GWG will, to the best of its ability, hold at least one voting member based in the following: Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, South & Central America & the Caribbean, and North America.

• GWG members are required to annually confirm, in writing, their participation in the workgroup within one month of the yearly PSF Board election. The GWG Chair and GWG Vice Chairs lead this process. If written confirmation is not received within two weeks, the individual is automatically removed from the GWG.
  • To be considered active, GWG members must participate in at least 60% of the votes in the span of a year. Inactive members are not eligible to confirm continuing participation in the GWG.
• GWG members can resign from the Work Group at any time. The GWG will seek a replacement member from the region of the resigning member to continue balanced representation.
• The GWG may request the opinion of unpaid volunteers or experts. If not included in the annual PSF budget, the GWG may request paid experts or consultants pending approval by the PSF Board or PSF Staff.

Rules & Guidelines

• The grants workgroup will contain at least one voting member each based in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, South & Central America & Caribbean, and North America. Non-voting advisory members may be added at the discretion of the PSF board.

• Each event the grants workgroup issues a grant to has to have a Code of Conduct. If there is no Code of Conduct in place, the grants workgroup cannot approve the grant.
• Grant request size guidelines
  • A typical conference grant size is USD $15 per attendee, with exception for smaller conferences that need extra financial assistance. Example: A conference with 500 attendees can be funded with a grant of up to USD 7500.

    • For conferences that are 5 years or younger, we are able to consider a higher amount, no higher than $25/person. Conference organizers need to explain there's a problem gaining local sponsorship & they need to demonstrate (through either their application for the grant or a previous post-conference report) evidence that they're taking active steps to foster relationships with local organizations who can sponsor the event in future.

  • A typical educational program grant size is USD 25 per student, provided the students each receive at least 6 hours of Python instruction as part of the educational program. The grants workgroup should give preference to students who would otherwise not be able to attend such classes. Example: A workshop with 30 attendees can be funded with a grant of up to USD 750.
  • Grant amounts will also be considered in light of customary local costs in the area of the event and additional documentation and review may be requested.
• Grant requests which don't fit the policies mentioned above, which the grants workgroup feels not confident making decisions about, or which exceed a sum of USD 10,000 are to be submitted to the PSF board of directors.
• Grants workgroup members who are affiliated with an event applying for a grant are allowed to take part in the discussion about the grant on the workgroup's mailing list but should abstain from voting on the approval of the grant. Any affiliations should be disclosed.
• The grants workgroup will not take longer than 6 weeks to discuss and vote on a grant request.
• The grants workgroup will submit a monthly report on the issued grants to the PSF board of directors.

Decision Making Procedures

• Grant requests will be proposed to the group.
• The requests will be discussed on the mailing list.
• Amendments of the proposed grants will be decided by a majority rule.
• The team will vote on the proposed grants. Decisions will be made by a majority rule.

Communication Plan

The team will communicate via mailing list - psf-grants@python.org . If needed, conference calls can be set up. The method of voting on grant proposals will be determined by the WG. (The preferred way of voting is email voting.)

Budget

• The yearly budget will be $120,000. The grants workgroup may ask the board of directors to increase the budget if needed.

List of Participants / Who we are

Chair: Laura Graves (North America, non-voting)

Vice Chairs:

• Kushal Das (Asia)
• Vicky Twomey-Lee (Europe)

Participants:

• Aaron Yankey (Africa, Ghana)
• Afape Temiloluwa Ruth (Africa, Nigeria)
• Christopher Neugebauer (Australia/North America)
• Cheuk Ting Ho (UK / Asia)
• Chukwudi Nwachukwu (Africa)
• Darshita Chaturvedi (Asia / North America)
• Fernando Masanori (South America)
• Gonzalo Peña-Castellanos (South America, Colombia)
• Lorena Mesa (North America)
• Michael Iyanda (Africa, Nigeria)
• Sayan Chowdhury (Asia)
• Younggun Kim (Asia)

Support Requirements

• Mailing list - psf-grants@python.org