We are wishing farewell to Van Lindberg after 16 years of service to the PSF, who has decided to step down from his Board Director and General Counsel roles. He helped us grow from a small volunteer organization with no staff, to an organization with 9 staff members that supports the whole Python ecosystem and its global community. He has served on our board for 11 years, as Chair of the PyCon US committee for 3 years before that and most recently as the PSF’s General Counsel for 7 years.
For many years, Van has steered our IP policies as an open source project. He worked to make sure our trademark, license and contributor agreement policies kept pace with the evolving open source landscape. He has advised countless members of the PSF community on how to work with our licenses and how to properly think about trademarks, patents, cryptocurrency and much more.
Van served first as an elected board member and then later as an appointed board member. Less formally, Van has been an enthusiastic presence at many, many PyCons and a steadying presence for our volunteer Trademarks working group. He has spoken at many open source events sharing his experience as a Pythonista and the expertise gained at the other open source communities he is a participant in.
The PSF’s Board Chair Thomas Wouters said, “It's hard to imagine where the PSF would be today if it hadn't been for Van's experience, insight and strategic vision. He has been fundamental to the professionalisation of the Foundation and its Board of Directors, and a driving force behind the PSF's sustainability efforts, policies and of course legal direction. He is both a shining example of volunteer effort and a great mentor to many Board and staff members. I'm very grateful for the many years of service and dedication he gave to the PSF, and we're all the better for it.”
We wish Van all the best in his future non-PSF open source work on OSPOCO and as a well-respected voice in the many open source legal conversations he participates in. Thanks again!
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