Happy New Year from the PSF! We’d like to highlight some of our activities from 2018 and update the community on the initiatives we are working on.
PyCon 2018
PyCon 2018 was held in Cleveland, Ohio, US. The conference brought together 3,389 attendees from 41 countries. We awarded $118,543 in financial aid to 143 attendees. In addition to financial aid, the conference continues to offer childcare for attendees, a newcomer orientation, a PyLadies lunch, and many more events.
Registration is now open for PyCon 2019: https://pycon.blogspot.com/2018/11/pycon-2019-registration-is-open.html .
Registration is now open for PyCon 2019: https://pycon.blogspot.com/2018/11/pycon-2019-registration-is-open.html .
Community Support
We initiated a Python Software Foundation Meetups Pro network at the end of the year, which supports 37 meetups in 8 countries and further expansion planned. The Sponsorship model allows the PSF to invite existing groups to the Meetup Pro network. The organizers no longer pay for the meetup subscription once they become part of the PSF network. This initiative will save approximately 32 hours of PSF staff time and 21 hours of meetup organizer time.
To help with transparency, the PSF launched its first newsletter in December! If you’d like to receive our next edition, subscribe here: https://www.python.org/psf/newsletter/. You can read our first edition here: https://mailchi.mp/53049c7e2d8b/python-software-foundation-q4-newsletter
This year we formalized our fiscal sponsorship program to better support mission related projects. The PSF has signed fiscal sponsorship agreements with 8 groups including Pallets (Flask), PhillyPUG, PuPPy, PyCascades, PyHawaii, PyMNtos, PyArkansas, and the Python San Diego User Group. Through this effort, the PSF is able to support these projects by handling their accounting and admin work so the projects can concentrate on furthering their goals.
Thanks to a generous award from the Mozilla Open Source Support program, the all new Python Package Index based on the warehouse codebase rollout was completed in April of 2018.
In June Ernest W. Durbin III was hired as Director of Infrastructure. Ernest will be evaluating and strengthening internal systems, supporting and improving community infrastructure, and developing programs that benefit the Python community worldwide.
In September, the PSF hired Jackie Augustine as Event Manager. Jackie will be working with the team on all facets of PyCon and managing several community resources for regional conferences.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Ewa Jodlowska will be the PSF's first Executive Director, starting January 1, 2019. Given her years of dedicated service to the PSF from event manager to her current position as Director of Operations, we can think of no one more qualified to fill this role as the PSF continues to grow and develop.
Through out 2018, we presented several awards to recognize those that go above and beyond in our community. This year we gave out several Community Service Awards, a Distinguished Service Award, and a Frank Willison Memorial Award. To find out more about our awards or how to nominate someone for a Community Service Award, check out: https://www.python.org/community/awards/.
Python Package Index
If you are interested in what the Packaging Group is currently working on, check out their RFP for security and accessibility development: http://pyfound.blogspot.com/2018/12/upcoming-pypi-improvements-for-2019.html.
Grants
The Python Ambassador program helps further the PSF's mission with the help of local Pythonistas. The goal is to perform local outreach and introduce Python to areas where it may not exist yet. In March 2018, the board approved expanding our Python Ambassador program to include East Africa. Kato Joshua and the Afrodjango Initiative have been doing great outreach in universities in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya.
In a general overview, $324,000 was paid in grants last year to recipients in 51 different countries. We awarded $59,804 more in grants in 2018 than 2017. That's a 22.6% increase for global community support.
Here is a chart showing the global grant distribution in 2018:
Here is a chart showing the global grant distribution in 2018:
PSF Staff
In September, the PSF hired Jackie Augustine as Event Manager. Jackie will be working with the team on all facets of PyCon and managing several community resources for regional conferences.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Ewa Jodlowska will be the PSF's first Executive Director, starting January 1, 2019. Given her years of dedicated service to the PSF from event manager to her current position as Director of Operations, we can think of no one more qualified to fill this role as the PSF continues to grow and develop.
Community Recognition
Community Service Awards
Chukwudi Nwachukwu was recognized for his contribution to spreading the growth of Python to the Nigerian community and his dedication and research to the PSF grants work group.Mario Corchero was awarded a CSA for his leadership of the organization of PyConES, PyLondinium, and the PyCon Charlas track in 2018. His work has been instrumental in promoting the use of Python and fostering Python communities in Spain, Latin America, and the UK.
We also honored our Job Board volunteers: Jon Clements, Melanie Jutras, Rhys Yorke, Martijn Pieters, Patrice Neff, and Marc-Andre Lemburg, who have spent many hours reviewing and managing the hundreds of job postings submitted on an annual basis
Mariatta Wijaya was an awardee for her contributions to CPython, her efforts to improve the workflow of the Python core team, and her work to increase diversity in our community. In addition, her work as co-chair of PyCascades helps spread the growth of Python
Alex Gaynor received an award for his contributions to the Python and Django Communities and the Python Software Foundation. Alex previously served as a PSF Director in 2015-2016. He currently serves as an Infrastructure Staff member and contributes to legacy PyPI and the next generation warehouse and has helped legacy warehouse in security (disabling unsupported OpenID) and cutting bandwidth costs by compressing 404 images.
2018 Distinguished Service Award
The 2018 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Marc-Andre Lemburg for his significant contributions to Python as a core developer, EuroPython chair, PSF board member, and board member of the EuroPython Society.2018 Frank Willison Memorial Award
The Frank Willison Memorial Award for Contributions to the Python Community was awarded to Audrey Roy Greenfeld and Daniel Roy Greenfeld for their contributions to the development of Python and the global Python community through their speaking, teaching, and writing.Donations and Sponsorships
This year we welcomed 17 new sponsors in 2018 including our first Principal Sponsors, Facebook and Capital One. Thank you for your very generous support.
We welcome your thoughts on how you’d like to see our Foundation involved in Python’s ecosystem and are always interested in hearing from you. Email us!
We wish you a very successful 2019!
Ewa Jodlowska
Executive Director
Betsy Waliszewski
Sponsor Coordinator
