PSF Board Retreat 2024

The PSF Board came together September 12th-15th, 2024, for our annual board retreat. This year we met in Lisbon, Portugal. We used the opportunity to work together in person to discuss high-level strategic planning for the future of the PSF. This year, we moved the retreat from January to September. We aimed to meet as a new board in person as soon as possible to build our trust and communication earlier- which has been working well!

Our retreat

After traveling in on 12th September, we shared a meal together and it was a great chance for some board members to meet our newly elected board member Cristián Maureira-Fredes. There was no “ice-breaking” needed– the ice already melted immediately (maybe due to the heat in Lisbon) that evening! We were sure that it would be a productive weekend going ahead.

In the following two days, the board sat together (except for a “walk and talk” session which we will explain in a bit) to go through all the topics on our agenda and lay down some strategies that the board will follow up in the coming year. On the first day before we jumped into strategies, we agreed on our values and behavioral norms for the meetings. We adopted a “jazz hands” gesture to show agreement and it turned out to be a very effective communication method.

We identified our relationships with various parts of the community and documented some of our long-term goals. We also identified our relationships with other entities and our grant program strategies (more on that later!).

On the second day, as we had been sitting down for most of the time during our meeting (there was no time to waste as the discussion was very intense), we got to do a “walk and talk” session. We broke into two groups to discuss some of the strategies regarding supporting PSF  workgroups and mentoring future board members.

The last day was a travel day home, and everyone left Lisbon safely. It was an intense but productive weekend!

What we discussed

There are a multitude of things that we discussed- and many more that we would love to discuss but ran out of time to do so. Here are summaries of some of the topics.

Long term goals

Regarding our vision for where we want to be in 5 years, it can be summarized as:

1. financially sustainable
2. more support for the community, and
3. amplifying Python’s impact around the world

Workings within PSF

We reviewed our meetings structure and process, as well as our relationships with different working groups within the PSF. We also looked at what challenges we may have in our grants program, PyPI, fundraising, and the developer-in-residence program.

Relationship with other organizations

We identified some non-profit organizations that align with our values and which we feel we could benefit from more communication. Those also include some of the local communities that we would like to work closer with.

Fundraising

We explored new fundraising opportunities and brainstormed some ways to diversify the income source of funds.

Grants Program

The board members also reviewed the current PSF grant strategies. We brainstormed ways to make the PSF grants program more efficient and to prioritize where it makes the most impact.

Communication

We talked about continuing to improve communication with our community.

Sustainability

One of the topics that we spent a lot of time talking about was how to help future board members, provide more information about the work of PSF in advance, and how to mentor the next generation of board members.

Continue to support us

The work of the PSF Board and Staff does not stop here. We have another year ahead to keep on supporting Python and the community! If you have any feedback or suggestions to give us, we welcome you to drop by our PSF Board Office Hours or write to us at psf@python.org. We also encourage you to join in our end-of-year fundraiser, and consider becoming a PSF member or making a donation. Check out the 2024 fundraiser landing page to learn about how you can help power Python and the PSF!

Help power Python and join in the PSF year-end fundraiser & membership drive!

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is the charitable organization behind Python, dedicated to advancing, supporting, and protecting the Python programming language and the community that sustains it. That mission and cause are more than just words we believe in. Our tiny but mighty team works hard to deliver the projects and services that allow Python to be the thriving, independent, community-driven language it is today. Some of what the PSF does includes producing PyCon US, hosting the Python Packaging Index (PyPI), awarding grants to Python initiatives worldwide, maintaining critical community infrastructure, and more.

To build the future of Python and sustain the thriving community that its users deserve, we need your help. By backing the PSF, you’re investing in Python’s growth and health, and your contributions directly impact the language's future. Is your community, work, or hobby powered by Python? Join this year’s drive and power Python’s future with us by donating or becoming a Supporting Member today.

There are two ways to join in:

Donate to the PSF! Your donation is a direct way to support and power the future of the Python programming language and community you love. Every dollar makes a difference.

Become a Supporting member! When you sign up as a Supporting Member of the PSF, you become a part of the PSF, are eligible to vote in PSF elections and help us sustain what we do with your annual support. You can sign up as a Supporting Member at the usual annual rate($99 USD), or you can take advantage of our sliding scale option (starting at $25 USD)! We don't want cost to be a barrier to you being a part of the PSF or to your voice helping direct our future. Every PSF member makes the Python community stronger!

Your donations:

• Keep Python thriving 
• Support CPython and PyPI progress 
• Increase security across the Python ecosystem 
• Bring the global Python community together 
• Make our community more diverse and robust every year

Highlights from 2024:

• A record-making PyCon US - We produced the 21st PyCon US, in Pittsburgh, US, and online, and it was a huge success! For the first time post-2020, PyCon US 2024 sold out with over 2,500 in-person attendees.
• Advances in our Grants Program - 2024 has been a year of change and reflection for the Grants Program, starting with the addition of Marie Nordin to the grants administration team who has supported the PSF in launching several new grants initiatives. We set up Grants Program Office Hours, published a Grants Program Transparency Report for 2022 and 2024, invested in a third-party retrospective, launched a major refresh of all areas of our Grants program and updated our Grants Workgroup Charter. With more changes to come, we are thrilled to share that we awarded a record-breaking amount of grant funds in 2024!
• Empowering the Python community through Fiscal Sponsorship - We are proud to continue supporting our 20 fiscal sponsoree organizations with their initiatives and events all year round. The PSF provides 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to fiscal sponsorees such as PyLadies and Pallets, and provides back office support so they can focus on their missions. Consider donating to your favorite PSF Fiscal Sponsoree and check out our Fiscal Sponsorees page to learn more about what each of these awesome organizations is all about!
• Connecting directly through Office Hours - The current PSF Board has decided to invest more in connecting and serving the global Python community by establishing a forum to have regular conversations. The board members of the PSF with the support of PSF staff are now holding monthly PSF Board Office Hours on the PSF Discord. The Office Hours are sessions where folks from the community can share with us how we can help your regional community, express perspectives, and provide feedback for the PSF.
• Paying more engineers to work directly on Python, PyPI, and security - We welcomed Petr Viktorin, Deputy Developer in Residence (DiR), and Serhiy Storchaka, Supporting DiR. It’s been exciting to begin to realize the full vision of the DiR program, with special thanks to Bloomberg for making it possible for us to bring Petr on board. The DiR team is taking an active role in shaping the development of the language, and with three people on the team each DiR can now also spend a percentage of their time on feature work aligned with their interests.
• Continuing to enhance Python’s security through Developers-in-Residence - Seth Larson, PSF Security Developer in Residence (DiR) had a busy year thanks to continued support from Alpha-Omega. Seth worked on a variety of projects including the creation of SBOMs for Source and Windows CPython artifacts, implementing build reproducibility for CPython source artifacts, and auditing and migrating Sigstore, to name just a few. Check out Seth's blog to keep up to date with his work. Mike Fiedler, PyPI Safety & Security Engineer, also worked on a variety of projects such as two-factor authentication for all users on PyPI, an audit of PyPI, made significant progress on malware response and reporting, collaborated on the PSF’s submission for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)’s Request for Information (RFI), and more! Thanks to AWS and Georgetown for making Mike’s PyPI security accomplishments possible. Stay up to date with Mike's work on the PyPI blog.
• New PSF Staff dedicated to critical infrastructure - We established the PyPI Support Specialist role, filled by Maria Ashna. Over the past 23 years, PyPI has seen essentially exponential growth in traffic and users, relying for the most part on volunteers to support it. The load far outstretched volunteers and prior staff capacity, so we are very excited to have Maria on board. We also filled our Infrastructure Engineer role, welcoming Jacob Coffee to the team, to ensure PSF-maintained systems and services are running smoothly.
  

 

Our thanks!

Every dollar you contribute to the PSF helps power Python, makes an impact, and tells us you value Python and the work we do. Python and the PSF are built on the amazing generosity and energy of all our amazing community members out there who step up and give back.

We appreciate you and we’re so excited to see where we can go together in the year to come!

PSF Grants Program Updates: Workgroup Charter, Future, & Refresh (Part 2)

Building on Part 1 of this PSF Grants Program Update, we are pleased to share updates to the Grants Workgroup (workgroup) Charter. We have outlined all the changes below in a chart, but there are a couple of changes that we’d like to highlight to grant applicants. These updates in particular will change how and when you apply, and hopefully reduce blockers to getting those applications in and ready for review. Because we are just sharing these updates, we are happy to be flexible on these changes but hope to see all applicants adhere to the changes starting around January 2025. 

• Increase overall process time frame to 8 weeks (formerly 6 weeks). We want to be realistic about how long the process takes and we know that going over our projection can cause pain for applicants. We hope to turn around applications in 6 weeks in most cases, but planning for the extra two weeks can make a big difference for everyone involved!
• Our application form requires that you set the event date out to 6 weeks in advance. We will wait to update that to 8 weeks in advance until January 2025.
• It’s important to note that this time frame begins only once all required information has been received, not exactly from the day the application is submitted. Make sure to check the email you provided on the application to see if the workgroup Chair has any questions regarding your request!
• Add a statement of support for accessibility services. In line with the PSF’s mission to support and facilitate the growth of a diverse community, we are explicitly stating in the charter that we will consider funding accessibility services. For established events (have 2 or more events in the past with more than 200 participants at the last event), we are open to considering accessibility-related requests such as live captioning, sign language interpretation, or certified child care.
• To review these types of requests, we will need sufficient documentation such as quotes, certifications, or any other relevant information.
• Add guidelines around program/schedule review. Previously undocumented, we were checking event programs/schedules to ensure a Python focus as well as a diversity of speakers. Because of event organizing time frames, we often received grant requests before the schedule was available. Moving forward we are accepting 1 of 3 options:
1. The program/schedule for the event
2. A tentative schedule or list of accepted speakers/sessions for the event
3. Programs from previous editions of the event if available, a link to the event’s call for proposals, which should state a required Python focus for the event as well as a statement in support of a diverse speaker group, and a description of the efforts that are being made to ensure a diversity of speakers.

Grants Workgroup Charter Updates 

 

Update Summary	Former Charter	Projected Benefit	Observations
Establish fast-track grants: Grants that meet pre-approved criteria skip the review period with the workgroup and go straight to a vote	Did not exist previously	Resolutions reach applicants sooner, reduce load on workgroup	Not many events meet the initial criteria we set to qualify for fast-track review, so this is mostly untested
Establish workgroup participation criteria: workgroup members must participate in 60% of the votes to remain active	Did not exist previously	Resolutions reach applicants sooner, set out clear guidelines on the meaning of active participation, reduce load on Chair	Reduction of workgroup membership to only active members has resulted in shorter voting periods by removing blockers to meeting quorum
Increase $ amount for PSF Board review: Grant requests over 15K are reviewed by PSF Board	Grant requests over 10K were reviewed by PSF Board	Resolutions reach applicants sooner, reduces load on PSF Board to ensure they are focused on high level efforts	Resolutions have reached applicants sooner, some reduction in load for PSF Board as we are still receiving applications over 15K
Increase process timeframe: 8 week processing time from when all information has been received	6 week processing time from when all information has been received	Improves community satisfaction and sets realistic expectations, reduces stress on workgroup & Chair	We are just sharing this update so it has yet to be tested- come to our Grants Office Hour session to discuss it with us!
Establish schedule for Grant review process: 10 day review period and 10 day voting period	Did not exist previously	Improve community satisfaction by ensuring requests are moving through the process promptly	This has worked great to keep things moving as the workgroup has a set expectation of how long they have to comment
Establish guideline for workgroup process: no discussion after the vote has begun	Did not exist previously	Improve community satisfaction by ensuring requests are moving hrough the process promptly	While untested, this has set an expectation for the workgroup to comment during the review period
Update voting mechanics: Votes will last for 10 days, a majority is reached, or when all voting members have voted, whichever comes first. For a proposal to be successful, it must have ayes in the majority totalling 30% of the WG	Decisions were made by a majority rule (50%+1), with no time limit	Improve community satisfaction by ensuring votes take place promptly, reduce stress on the workgroup and Chair if members are absent or unable to participate	This has worked wonderfully! The Chair no longer has to track down votes. Paired with the participation guideline, voting periods no longer present a bottleneck
Removed stated set budget: The annual budget is set by the PSF Board and is subject to change	The previously documented budget was $120,000 (regularly exceeded)	Removes an inaccurate description of the Grants Program budget and the need to update this line yearly	A practical update, no observations to note
Update workgroup officer roles: one Chair, one Vice Chair, one Appointed Board Director	One Chair and two Vice Chairs	Correct an unusual and discouraged practice of having two vice chairs and ensures PSF Board participation	A practical update, no observations to note
Add a statement of support for accessibility services: for mature events, consideration of granting funds for accessibility services	Did not exist previously	Establishes criteria for the workgroup and Board to consider accessibility-related requests	We are just sharing this update so it has yet to be tested- come to our Grants Office Hour session to discuss it with us!
Additional guidelines around grant reviews: tentative schedules OR previous schedules, CfP that shows a Python focus, as well as a description of the efforts being made to ensure a diversity of speakers	Did not exist previously in documented form, though we checked for a program	Improve community satisfaction with the process, remove delays in the grant review process	This has been a great addition, and blockers for many applications have been removed!

 

What’s next?

Still on our Grants Program refresh to-do list is:

• Mapping Board-mandated priorities for the Grants Program to policy
• Charter adjustments as needed, based on the priority mapping
  
• Main documentation page re-write
• Budget template update
• Application form overhaul
• Transparency report for 2024
• Exploration and development of other resources that our grant applicants would find useful

Our community is ever-changing and growing, and we plan to be there every step of the way and continue crafting the Grants Program to serve Pythonistas worldwide. If you have questions or comments, we welcome and encourage you to join us at our monthly Grants Program Office Hour sessions on the PSF Discord.

PSF Grants Program Updates: Workgroup Charter, Future, & Refresh (Part 1)

Time has flown by since we received the community call last December for greater transparency and better processes around our Grants Program. PSF staff have produced a Grants Program Transparency Report and begun holding monthly Grants Program Office Hours. The PSF Board also invested in a third-party retrospective and launched a major refresh of all areas of our Grants program.

To provide the Grants Program more support, we assigned Marie Nordin, PSF Community Communications Manager, to support the Grants Program alongside Laura Graves, Senior Accountant. Marie has stepped into the Grants Workgroup Chair role to relieve Laura after 3+ years– thank you, Laura! Marie has been leading the initiatives and work related to the Grants Program in collaboration with Laura.

Behind the scenes, PSF staff has been working with the PSF Board and the Grants Workgroup (workgroup) to translate the feedback we’ve received and the analysis we’ve performed into action, starting with the Grants Workgroup Charter. A full breakdown of updates to the charter can be found in Part 2 of this update.

The PSF Board spent time on their recent retreat to explore priorities for the program going forward. We also ran a more thorough workgroup membership renewal process based on the updated charter to support quicker grant reviews and votes through active workgroup engagement. We’re excited to share refresh progress, updates, and plans for the future of the program later on in this post!

Something wonderful, bringing more changes

Meanwhile, the attention our Grants Program has received in the past year has resulted in something wonderful: we’re getting more requests than ever. Our call to historically underrepresented regions to request funds has been answered in some areas- and we are thrilled! For example, in the African region, we granted around 65K in 2023 and over 140K already this year! And, year to date in 2024 we have awarded more grant funding than we did in all of 2023. The other side of this coin presents us with a new issue– the budget for the program.

Up until this year, we’ve been able to grant at least partial funding to the majority of requests we’ve received while staying within our guidelines and maintaining a feasible annual budget. With more eligible requests incoming, every “yes” brings us closer to the ceiling of our grant budget. In addition to the increased quantity of requests, we are receiving requests for higher amounts. Inflation and the tech crunch have been hitting event organizers everywhere (this includes the PSF-produced PyCon US), and we are seeing that reflected in the number and size of the grant requests we are receiving.

Moving forward, with the increased quantity and amount of eligible grant requests, we will need to take steps to ensure we are balancing grant awards with sustainability for our Grants Program, and the Foundation overall. We know that the most important part of any changes to the Grants Program is awareness and two-way communications with the community. We aim to do that as early and transparently as we possibly can. That means we aren’t changing anything about how we award grants today or even next week– but within the next couple of months. Please keep an eye on our blog and social accounts (Mastodon, X, LinkedIn) for news about upcoming changes, and make sure to share this post with your fellow Python event and initiative organizers.

Grants Workgroup Charter update process

The purpose of the PSF Grants Workgroup (workgroup) is to review, approve, and deny grant funding proposals for Python conferences, training workshops, Meetups, development projects, and other related Python initiatives. The workgroup charter outlines processes, guidelines, and membership requirements for the workgroup. Small changes have been made to the charter over the years, but it’s been some time since any significant changes were implemented.
 
During the summer of 2024, Marie, workgroup chair (hi 👋 it’s me writing this!), and Laura worked on updates for the charter. The updates focused on how to make the Grants Program processes and guidelines work better for the workgroup, the PSF Board, and most especially, the community we serve.

After many hours of discussing pain points, running scenarios, exploring possible guidelines, and drafting the actual wording, Marie and Laura introduced proposed updates for the charter to the Board in July. After a month of review and 1:1 meetings with the PSF Board and workgroup members, the updated charter went to a vote with the PSF Board on August 14th and was approved unanimously.

The workgroup has been operating under its new charter for a couple of months. Before we shared broadly with the community, we wanted to make sure the updates didn’t cause unintended consequences, and we were ready to walk back anything that didn’t make sense. Turns out, our hard work paid off, and the updates have been mostly working as we hoped. We will continue to monitor the impact of the changes and make any adjustments in the next Charter update. Read up on the Grants Workgroup Charter updates in Part 2 of this blog post!

PyCon US 2025 Kicks Off: Website, CfP, and Sponsorship Now Open!

Exciting news: the PyCon US 2025 conference website, Call for Proposals, and sponsorship program are open!

To learn more about the location, deadlines, and other details, check out the links below:

• PyCon US 2025 Launch Blog Post
• PyCon US 2025 Website
• Submit Your PyCon US 2025 Proposal on Pretalx
• Sponsorship Application
• PyCon US 2025 Changes Blog Post

We’re very happy to answer any questions you have about PSF sponsorship or PyCon US 2025– please feel free to reach out to us at sponsors@python.org.

On behalf of the PSF and the PyCon US 2025 Team, we look forward to receiving your proposals and seeing you in Pittsburgh next year 🥳 🐍