Hi, I am Tania, and I have been a Python community member for 10+ years. However, it is fair to say that the last 6 years have been the more active in terms of community engagement and participation for me. Like many others folks, the Python community gave me a place where I felt I belonged.
Over these years, I have been involved in the Python community as a developer and contributor, speaker, teacher, mentor, conference organiser and volunteer. I have also been part of the PSF blogger team trying to highlight the fantastic work of Pythonistas all over the world.
I have had many opportunities to share my love for Python and knowledge with many folks worldwide by speaking at Python conferences, delivering tutorials and co-chairing the tutorial track for PyCon US for 2020 and 2021. I truly believe in open knowledge sharing as a means of empowering others and democratising tech and data science. Most of what I know I owe to someone who put in an incredible time, patience and effort to work with me or created open content. I want to pay it forward and ensure many other folks in the community benefit from my learnings.
I also started the Mentored Sprints project, which has the primary goal of providing folks from historically marginalised groups in open source with a safe and welcoming environment for folks to contribute to open source projects. The Mentored Sprints team has grown since we have run sprints at PyCon US (3 years in a row), PyCon Australia, PyCon UK, PyData events, and direct partnerships with groups such as WiMLDS and PyLadies. Mentored Sprints have provided mentorship to hundreds of sprinters, many of which made their first-ever open-source contributions.
Over the last couple of years, I have also been working on better ways to support the many PyLadies chapters worldwide. This year, I joined the PyLadies Global Council. As such, I have been involved in establishing a formal relationship between PyLadies and the PSF and improving processes, establishing working groups and liaising with external partners to ensure the long-term growth and sustainability of PyLadies.
Goals as a Board Member
I am excited to bring my expertise and dedication to the Python community and PSF board. Below are the main goals I'd like to focus on as a board member of the PSF:
Grow PSF financial security and diversification of funds
I would like to work with the Finance Committee to explore diverse funding streams to ensure the long-term sustainability of the PSF and the community. Although the existing financial committee has been working on this issue, we still need to work towards a more diverse portfolio of funding to also be able to fund critical initiatives and projects for the Python ecosystem.
Deeper integration of non-English speaking Python communities
Though the Python community is truly global, many leadership positions are still occupied by folks from English-speaking countries or from the Global North. I plan to establish mechanisms to include the voices of communities in the Global South and work towards programmes to make Python more accessible for non-English speakers. This would mean working closely with the translation group and the Python for Education working group to create educational resources and grants to achieve this goal. These efforts will significantly contribute towards the diversity of our community, and at the same time, make it more accessible and equitable for all.
Also, the last couple of years have been crucial for the LATAM community; the user groups, practitioners and students focused on Python have significantly increased. And more importantly, a strong and thriving community has formed; I would like to continue contributing to the growth of the LATAM Python community by creating connections with other communities and foster knowledge sharing.
Focus on accessibility
I genuinely believe that technology should be equitable - I would like to strengthen the accessibility efforts in the Python community to better support disabled community members. There is still a significant effort needed to make critical tools, tutorials, and documentation accessible to all. I would like to help identify potential sources of funding to carry on the technical work and generate resources (tutorials, documentation, talks) aimed at Python developers and maintainers to ensure accessibility becomes a central part of our community.
Closing
I would be honoured to serve the Python community as a Python Software Foundation director. I believe I can bring a great wealth of enthusiasm and expertise to the board and help ensure the long-term success of the PSF and the Python community.
Where to find me
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ixek Website: trallard.dev