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Nominee for 2025 Python Software Foundation Board Election

Lola Egherman

  • Previous Board Service: N/a
  • Employer: CodeDay
  • Other Affiliations: Member, STEMM Opportunity Alliance (AAAS); Organizer, FLOSS Mentoring
  • Nominee Statement:

      Introduction

      I am Lola Egherman, Vice President of Product and Operations at CodeDay. I am a passionate advocate for the improvement of computer science education, and strong believer in the ability of technology to create equitable opportunities regardless of background. My excitement for computer science began at a young age, however (like many) I struggled with finding opportunities and community for other students like me.

      If elected to the Python Software Foundation Board, I will leverage my experience as an educator and program leader to make the Python Software Foundation's efforts even more accessible for new engineers.

      Experience

      My work at CodeDay focuses on creating and executing two programs: - A hackathon-style event targeted at showing first time coders all the cool things possible with technology. - A project based technical mentoring program for college students, giving them real-world (and often paid!) software development experience through making contributions to open source software. As a former participant in, volunteer for, and staff member of both our programs, I bring a unique and cumulative perspective to the field.

      Leadership

      Under my leadership, both our programs have grown their impact, scale, and are continuously adapting to better meet the needs of today's students. - I coordinate cross-functional communication between several teams, maximizing the synergy of our initiatives. - I collaborate and resource share with like-minded organizations, maximizing collective impact. - I have authored multiple peer-reviewed research papers on work-based learning and mentorship in CS education. - I was invited by the United Nations to represent CodeDay as part of their annual Open Source Week, where I participated in dialogue and collaboration on how open source can solve challenges across the globe.

      Events

      CodeDay runs hackathon-style events across the globe to get new coders excited about programming. Attending one of these events while I was in middle school was a major stepping stone drawing me in to computer science. That was the gateway to my leading CodeDay's events program as a whole. Our events primarily target students traditionally overlooked for CS education outreach, who have never had the opportunity to try and find out if coding is for them. - I oversee CodeDay's team of volunteer event organizers, helping them build local partnerships, follow our procedures, and engage underrepresented students in their community. - I write organizer-facing documentation on CodeDay's policies and integrate feedback into meaningful documentation changes, improving our knowledge base for all. - I regularly attend conferences, speaking and leading discussions on diversity in CS and effective mentoring approaches. - I coordinate global efforts to mitigate barriers faced by under-served attendees, such as our laptop distribution program for students without access to technology at home. They come to CodeDay, and get a laptop to keep!

      Technical

      • I design and implement internal software to execute CodeDay's business logic.
      • I mentor participants of CodeDay's college program, demonstrating real-world problem solving, debugging, and communication techniques.
      • I perform in-depth analyses on outcomes for sharing with stakeholders, publishing in research papers, and enabling a data-driven approach to program design.

      Vision & Goals

      While serving on the Python Software Foundation Board, I will advocate for newer engineers in the Python community. I bring to the table my 8 years of experience as an education leader, mentor, and open source advocate - as well as CodeDay's 16 years of experience running education programs.

      Python is often regarded as the best first programming language to learn, and as such the community has a responsibility to be welcoming and accepting to engineers of all skill levels. This is already a current strength of Python - but more can always be done. As a Board member, I will encourage and guide the continued expansion of initiatives to make Python an even more welcoming environment for new users.

      Goals

      Expand opportunities for newer engineers in the Python community

      Being involved in any community, especially one for something so large and important as Python, is intimidating. As a member of the PSF Board, I will help the PSF create opportunities targeted at engineers who feel they "aren't experienced enough" to participate.

      Increase opportunities for new speakers

      Going from Python User to Python Event Attendee is hard - even harder, going from Python Event Attendee to Python Event Speaker. While on the PSF Board, I will encourage creation of initiatives which make giving your first talk less daunting.

      Improving pathways for contributing to Python Infrastructure

      Becoming a contributor to Python and it's related infrastructure is an intimidating task, and it can be unclear where or how to start. My experience helping thousands of students make their first-ever PRs will help the PSF develop efforts to improve the first-time contributor process.

  • Nomination Statements:
    • Nomination by:

      I am writing to nominate Lola Egherman for the Python Software Foundation Board of Directors. Lola currently serves as Vice President of Product and Operations at CodeDay, a worldwide nonprofit helping students use technology and creativity to work on meaningful problems. She has been instrumental in scaling our programs from reaching thousands to tens of thousands of students annually. Her unique perspective as both a former CodeDay student participant and now a leader in CS education gives her deep insight into the barriers facing newcomers to programming—many of whom begin their journey with Python.

      (The author of this nomination is Tyler Menezes, CEO of CodeDay. I reached out to Lola about this opportunity and confirmed she was excited to run for the board; I was not asked to provide this nomination.)

      Experience

      Lola brings a powerful combination of operational excellence, educational innovation, and genuine commitment to expanding access to computer science education. Her journey from student attendee to organizational leader exemplifies the transformative power of accessible tech education.

      Leadership

      • Led the operational scaling of CodeDay's programs, developing systems and processes that maintained program quality while growing and operating worldwide.
      • Spearheaded initiatives to increase participation from underrepresented groups.
      • Managed cross-functional teams of staff and volunteers, fostering a culture of innovation and student-centered design.
      • Authored multiple peer-reviewed research papers on work-based learning and mentorship in CS education.

      Events

      • Oversees the execution of CodeDay Events, our 12-24 hour coding events held simultaneously in cities worldwide. 80,000 students have attended these events.
      • Developed training materials and systems for onboarding hundreds of volunteers annually.
      • Created frameworks for making technical events accessible to complete beginners—25% of our participants have never coded before.
      • Speaks at conferences about diversity in CS education and creating inclusive technical communities.

      Technical & Educational

      • Designed curriculum and learning pathways that help students progress from zero coding experience all the way to contributing to open source projects.
      • Deep understanding of the Python ecosystem's role as a gateway language for new programmers.
      • Published research on effective mentorship models in technical education.
      • Experienced in data-driven program evaluation and continuous improvement methodologies.

      Vision

      I am nominating Lola for the PSF Board because she could help drive efforts to make Python truly accessible to new contributors and encourage its adoption among students, particularly those from backgrounds traditionally excluded from technology. Her experience bridging the gap between newcomers and the technical community positions her uniquely to help the PSF expand the impact of Python.

      Goals

      • Expanding opportunities for newer engineers in the Python community: Lola would work to strengthen the path from Python user -> event attendees -> community members and organizers by helping event organizers make more welcoming and better-promoted events.

      • Expanding opportunities for new speakers: The leap from attendee to speaker can feel insurmountable for newer community members. Lola would champion initiatives that allow new speakers to build their confidence and expertise gradually while contributing valuable perspectives to our community.

      • Building bridges to Python infrastructure contribution: Contributing to Python itself or its core infrastructure remains opaque to many developers who use Python daily. Lola's experience helping thousands of students become open source contributors at CodeDay would allow her to guide PSF to build onboarding programs that demystify the contribution process.