(2024) Python Software Foundation: Working Groups / Work Groups

There are 13 Python Software Foundation Work Groups that facilitate some of the most important work the PSF does for its community. If you're interested in understanding what the PSF does if it doesn't manage the language itself (the CPython Steering Council does that); one can look to the work of these groups in addition to Board Minutes, Board Resolution and the Annual Python Software Foundation report.

At the time of writing this blog post, the Education work group could use more attention from the community. Each year we have representation at the Education Summit at PyCon as well as have new books, courses, communities, programs and content seeking to meet the "Python Education" remit. One of the concerns brought up to me was that the category is to broad and vague to unite under one "Education" umbrella. A key note is that Work Groups are designed to carry out actions on behalf of the Python Software Foundation and does not serve solely as a discussion forum or to push initiatives outside of the Python Software Foundation Mission as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization in the United States. It will be a goal of the Education work group, if it is revived, to align on a mission that serves the Python Software Foundation and can be specific enough to do good in the community under this very broad category.

We've began with a Membership Committee among the board. Committees are specific board members who work outside of our limited capacity in our monthly meetings to drive initiatives forward. It is the intent of this committee to provide a line of communication with the staff and board members who run the election and the full board for discussion and visibility. It is up to the Membership Work Group to decide what their workload, responsibilities and cadence are, but again must be in pursuit of the PSF mission as a 501(c)3 and determined by the charter written.

As of this blog post the Membership Work Group Charter has not been written or ratified. To join in on this process, reach out to the email address psf-board@python.org

The Python User Group Work Group is currently an idea that has gotten interest but has had less hours spent on it that the Membership Work Group. There are Python groups across the world that have taken many shapes and sizes over the years. There is the North American nomenclature of the [City]PUG like a PhillyPUG aka Philly Python User Group andBostonPUG aka Boston Python User Group or the Py[Group] and [Group]Py like ChiPy aka Chicago Python User Group and PyTexas aka Texas Python User Groups. There are unique and active groups like Django Social, adopting a new form creating a template for Django (the Python web framework) events all over the world facilitated by the Django Recruiting firm Foxley Talent. There are Django Days the way that Django Danmark has decided to organize their community around work, Python Ghana, Python Tanzania, Python Nigeria who all take unique approaches to governance on a national level; while PyCascades, Python Ho and PyLATAM have organized regionally. PyLadies is by far one of the strongest and most prolific network of Python organizations with its own Global Council and is represented as a Fiscal Sponsoree of the Python Software Foundation. Django Girls, a one-day tutorial has seen success as a different form of Python organization over the past 10 years it has been around (Happy 10th birthday Django Girls!).PyClubs is a recent and exciting addition to community created Python networks for students self-organized in their school environment that has been started in Kenya and hopes to expand globally.

I'm excited for the expertise and interest around creating community and connection Python. I, personally, would love to see whatever comes of this Work Group to include a "PUG-in-a-box" approach repository that can be forked to get suggestions on how to get started, a Code of Conduct, sharing membership and event communications with their members, and funneling up feedback from members who feel disconnected from the Python Software Foundation to the volunteers who manage those domains. Imagine that with one pull request, the hundreds of people involved with Taipei.py, Python Brasil and Motreal Python can have access to the same information on PSF voting, membership drives, fundraising campaigns and more. Although I have ideas, what comes of this group will be from the deliberation of the volunteers and I'm thrilled for the enthusiasm that is coming from these discussions.

Let's step back for a moment and review what actually are Python Software Foundation Work Groups? I have a blog post I wrote in 2023 giving an overview of what they are. Some of the resources that exist are pretty old, but that is because the crux of what Work Groups are for the PSF hasn't been changed since ~2016/ '17 / '18 time period. Since that time Work Groups have done a tremendous amount of good.

These work groups have been historically a volunteer driven effort led by a volunteer driven organization. Now that we have staff to help coordinate these programs, we're working on a more coordinated way to keep the momentum of these groups and to allow for easy entrance and exit. Some of these work groups are active and at capacity for volunteers, some of them could use some extra effort. The best bet is to email the Work Groups' alias found on the Work Group list page and let them know that you're interested in helping https://www.python.org/psf/workgroups/

The PSF Staff involvement is an ever-evolving process that depends on the responsibilities of the work group. The work group themselves have direct lines of communication to the PSF staff lead, Deb Nicholson our Executive Director, who can help facilitate who and what fits staff bandwidth. For the work groups that require staff permissions, for example they disburse money, staff members will attend their meetings and help with responsibilities that require their effort. Some work groups can handle many responsibilities on their own and will raise requests to the staff when needed.

The PSF Board involvement is less formal. It is common to have board members on many of our work groups, but it is not set in stone. If you are interested in being on the PSF board, I recommend trying your hand at providing impact in our work groups first. Note, this is not how I got involved with the PSF, but I wish I had. We have had discussions among the board about having each of us sit on various work groups to get to 100% coverage, but with the workload that being on the board itself requires; this expectation would increase the effort to be on the board -- an unpaid, volunteer leadership position -- exponentially. We're working on other ways to bridge the gap between the board and the work group, but we always have a section in our monthly board meetings to receive updates from the work groups when they come.

This is something I added to my last blog post and I'm keen to add it again as I feel like it helps push the needle forward on opportunities that I've heard the community may be interested in.

• ✅ Elections and Membership Work Group - it's happening! You can see from my blog post in 2023 this is something I've been keen on seeing come to fruition and it is. Bravo to our team!
• Website Work Group - Not in the pipeline yet. There are conversations among the board that the updates to our website will need to be staff driven as it was last time with perhaps a work group coming later. There are experts who can devote undivided time in a level that should not be expected of volunteers. We can learn a lot from the Django Software Foundation's recent work in their website redesign.
• Python User Group and Events Work Group - something like this is in the pipeline perhaps! It's gotten great traction although there is nothing set in stone. I am hoping it doesn't lose momentum.

Some of my thoughts have evolved on the "PUG" work group but reviewing my blog post from a year ago, it seems that some of the gaps identified still remain. I think the community would greatly benefit from this work group.

Some examples from this blog post:

Create a Python User Group in a Box repository

Work with Fiscal Sponsorees to support their events.

Work with the new Communications position (to be filled at the time of this blog post) to publicize the events on pycon.org

Organize the many, many calendars that exist for Python events.

Support the work of PyVideo.org

Share and add to the list of Resources for virtual events | Python.org

Membership is by far, to me, the most important work group among the bunch. From this past year, I've seen a disconnect between the community having valid concerns and getting them across to the "powers that be" to have them enacted. From the way I hear people talk about the PSF board, it feels like people see the board as a group of people far away from the membership that may not understand what everyone else wants in their community-driven organization. For what it's worth, these are common growing pains of any organization going from medium to large, or small to medium (depending on your vantage the PSF could be either; but regardless is that we are growing along with the language).

I can say confidently that is not the case that we are far away from the desires of the membership. We are boots on the ground organizers who love the community and challenge our own beliefs constantly in our meetings. Clearly, we're not sharing the effort we take to learn about our membership and how much we debate in our meetings to reach our goal of voting consensus in our board resolutions; a goal we reach more often than not.

Without a solid conversation with our membership, we are reliant upon the urgency and rhetoric to get across a point, which leaves a lot to be desired to say the least. And the membership is left inferring our opinions from a one-line resolution (although our communications team on staff are helping with this). In points where the membership on opposite sides would otherwise agree, we lose the plot with hyperbole, metaphors and analogies. The last thing I will do is tone police, period. The goal is to make it easier to communicate between the board, staff and membership so we don't feel the need to use strong rhetoric. I have faith that if other methods to communicate are felt to be abundantly available and effective, they will be employed before we get to the harsh and derisive communications. I'm proud of the work we've done in the Discord Office Hours with Grants and withElections and Bylaws, mind you there are two Work Groups and staff that lead these! We're looking to do more of these and continue to expand the way we can speak to members as well as grow our members.

One of my chief goals, as I've mention as often as I'm given the chance, as the Chair of the PSF is to facilitate conversation. This along with being a cooperation between the board and staff and plan of actions for ongoing are where I've aligned my effort my first year as chair. My goal in organizing work groups in to its promising v2 is at the nexus of the three points:

• Strive for healthy debate and consensus
• Be a liaison between board and staff
• Look for opportunities for strategy and efficiency on the board