In October 2023, we acknowledged the situation surrounding DjangoCon Africa and noted our intent to make ongoing improvements to the Grants Program. We also recognize that we are in a new world of hybrid programming since the onset of the pandemic which comes with different funding and cost challenges. One step we are taking to refresh the Grants Program (we’ll be reporting on other steps soon) is to establish PSF Grants Program Office Hours.
The office hours will be hosted on the Python Software Foundation Discord once a month at 1-2PM UTC (9AM Eastern) on the third Tuesday of the month. (Check what time that is for you.) We invite the Python community to join in to receive support for Grant-related questions and inquiries! If you have urgent or immediate questions related to the Grants Program, please email grants@pyfound.org.
Direct line of communication
As we sat down to address the challenges and issues raised around the Grants Program and how to better support the Python community, we came to realize that refreshing the program would not be an easy and quick task. We need a two-way communication channel dedicated to the topic of grants with the PSF Board, the Grants Working Group, the D&I Working Group, the Code of Conduct Working Group, and most importantly, our vibrant and diverse community.
We believe a direct line of communication between the PSF and the worldwide Python community is the best first step. In order to create that direct line, gather your feedback, and collaborate on the future of the program, we are establishing regular PSF Grants Program Office Hours!
What’s the goal?
There are a couple of goals we hope to accomplish with the Grants Program Office Hours. In the short term, we believe recurring time supporting communication between the community and the PSF is key. In other words, a place for folks to come with questions and ideas regarding the Grants Program, with an understanding that we don’t have it perfect yet. If we have the answer, or we can point you to the right resource - amazing! If we don’t, that’s an area we know needs more work and will be added to our “To Do.”
We hope to see the office hours evolve over time as we work through feedback and make updates to our process, documentation, and resources. In the long term, the PSF hopes Grants Program Office Hours will create a place for our community to ask questions about the Grants Program and for us to have (almost) all the answers. We’d like the office hours to continue to be a place where we receive feedback from the community and continuously improve what we can do for Pythonistas around the world.
PSF Grants Program Office Hour Hosts
The PSF Grants Program Office Hours will be hosted by members of the PSF Staff. This will change over time, but for now you can expect to see Laura Graves, Senior Accountant, and Marie Nordin, Community Communications Manager, hosting the sessions. When needed, other PSF staff members will sub in for Laura and Marie.
This sounds great! How can I join?
The PSF Grants Program Office Hours will be a text-only chat based office hour hosted on the Python Software Foundation Discord at 1-2PM UTC (9AM Eastern) on the third Tuesday of the month. The server is moderated by PSF Staff and is locked in between office hour sessions. If you’re new to Discord, check out some Discord Basics to help you get started. And as always, if you have urgent or immediate questions related to the Grants Program, please email grants@pyfound.org.
Come prepared to the Office Hours with questions and shareable links to your Grant applications drafts in progress via Google docs, etherpad, pastebin, etc. We hope to see you there!
