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Nominee for 2025 Python Software Foundation Board Election

Simon Willison

  • Previous Board Service: Currently serving, 2022-2025
  • Employer: Independent
  • Other Affiliations: Datasette open source project
  • Nominee Statement:

      Hi, I'm Simon Willison. I've been a board member of the Python Software Foundation since 2022 and I'm running for re-election in 2025.

      Last year I wrote a detailed article about Things I’ve learned serving on the board of the Python Software Foundation. I hope to continue learning and sharing what I've learned for a second three-year term.

      One of my goals for a second term is to help deepen the relationship between the AI research world and the Python Software Foundation. There is an enormous amount of value being created in the AI space using Python and I would like to see more of that value flow back into the rest of the Python ecosystem.

      I see the Python Package Index (PyPI) as one of the most impactful projects of the Python Software Foundation and plan to continue to advocate for further investment in the PyPI team and infrastructure.

      As a California resident I'm excited to see PyCon return to the West Coast, and I'm looking forward to getting involved in helping make PyCon 2026 and 2027 in Long Beach, California as successful as possible.

      Relevant experience

      • I've been blogging about Python since 2002, publishing more than 1,172 posts about the language and the community.
      • In 2004 I helped create Django while working at the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper in Kansas.
      • I've presented talks and tutorials at dozens of Python conferences around the world, including EuroPython, PyCon North America (I gave a keynote in 2024) and DjangoCon.
      • In 2010 I co-founded a startup, Lanyrd, which used Python and Django to provide a service for discovering and making the most out of conferences. We were acquired by Eventbrite in 2013.
      • I have 340 projects on PyPI.
      • In 2017 I created Datasette, "an open source multi-tool for exploring and publishing data". Datasette is written in Python and supports plugins, of which there are now well over 100. Each plugin is a package on PyPI.
      • In 2018 I released sqlite-utils, a Python library and CLI tool for manipulating SQLite databases.
      • In 2023 I started the LLM project, another plugin-based project focused on providing CLI tools and a Python library for working with Large Language Models.
      • I've volunteered as a mentor for Hackbright Academy in San Francisco, helping several students there graduate the program and start their careers as Python developers.

      Where to find me

      My blog is simonwillison.net. I'm also on Mastodon at @simon@simonwillison.net, on Bluesky at @simonwillison.net and on GitHub as simonw.