Announcing the 2026 Python Packaging Council Election Results!

The inaugural Python Packaging Council (PPC) election has concluded. With 17 candidates and plenty of lively AMA discussions on DPO, we are pleased to see the level of engagement with this first PPC election.

We want to send a big thanks to everyone who ran and was willing to serve on the council. Even if you were not elected, we appreciate all the time and effort you put into thinking about how to improve Python’s packaging ecosystem and represent the parts of the community you participate in.

Council Members Elect 

Congratulations to our five inaugural Python Packaging Council members who have been elected! 

• Brett Cannon – for a 2 year term (Cohort A)
• Pradyun Gedam – for a 2 year term (Cohort A)
• Donald Stufft – for a 1 year term (Cohort B)
• Henry Schreiner – for a 1 year term (Cohort B)
• Ralf Gommers – for a 1 year term (Cohort B)

Our heartfelt thanks go out to each of you who took the time to review the candidates and submit your votes. We received 541 total ballots.

We also want to thank everyone who participated in the PEP 772 discussions to establish this council as well as those who helped with this year’s election–especially Barry Warsaw and Pradyun Gedam as community liaisons for this inaugural election. We also want to highlight the PSF staff members and PSF Board members who put in tons of effort each year as we work to continually improve our elections.

How do the terms/cohorts work?

This inaugural election fills all five seats on the PPC. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes are designated Cohort A with a two year term, and the three candidates receiving the next highest number of votes are designated Cohort B with a one year term.

In future elections, each cohort will be elected for a full two-year term in alternating years, so that roughly half of the PPC turns over each cycle.

What’s next?

We are already in touch with all the elected candidates to schedule onboarding.
If you’re interested in the complete tally, make sure to check the Python Packaging Council Election 2026 Results page. These results will be available until November 10, 2026.

Announcing the PSF Strategic Plan 2026

In May, the Python Software Foundation (PSF) shared the high-level goals of our Strategic Plan. In June, we published the full draft and opened it for community feedback. Today we are sharing the outcome: at its July 8 meeting, the PSF Board adopted the PSF Strategic Plan 2026, covering 2026 to 2031.

Our new PSF Strategy page is the permanent home for the plan, with information about how the board sets priorities and how you can share feedback. We’ll publish annual review findings and future updates there so the community can follow our progress and any changes to the plan.

What the feedback changed

Feedback from PSF Staff and the Python community shaped real changes to the draft we published in June.

Staff feedback added a Security Baseline objective for all PSF projects and services and a Vulnerability Management objective in response to the rapid growth in security reports, and it sharpened wording across the organizational goals. Community feedback shaped the plan, too: translation and localization are now part of the accessibility work, companies that want to fund specific work get clearer pathways, and the ideas under financial sustainability now include growing the value of PSF membership.

The plan's "How This Plan Was Shaped" section documents the process, and we are grateful to everyone who took the time to share their perspectives.

The annual review

A five-year plan is only useful if it stays current. Alongside adoption, the board established an annual review of the strategic plan. Each year, the board will:

• Assess progress against the goals

• Evaluate whether priorities need to shift

• Incorporate feedback from PSF staff and the community

• Publish a summary of findings and any changes made

The plan is designed as a living document, and we will be sharing details on the first review cycle.

What happens next

Implementation of the Strategic Plan is the job of PSF staff, and it has already started. The 2026 Grants Program Funding Round announced in July is the first concrete step under the plan's grants reform direction, and awards will be announced later this month.

We also know the community is waiting for updated financial information. The PSF has engaged an external accounting firm to support this work, and we will share an update as soon as the numbers are ready for publication.

The plan now informs how the PSF allocates its budget and staff time, and there are several ways to stay involved. We welcome community feedback at strategy@python.org year-round, and the monthly PSF Board Office Hours on the PSF Discord are a good place to connect with the board and to ask questions about the plan. Input arriving now feeds the first annual review.

Thank you to everyone who read the draft, contributed feedback, joined the office hours, and talked with us at PyCon US. The PSF’s Strategic Plan is better for it.

Jannis Leidel, PSF Board Chair, on behalf of the PSF Board of Directors