DSF member of the month - Lilian

For August 2025, we welcome Lilian as our DSF member of the month! ⭐

Lilian contributes to the community by writing blog posts, being active in the Django forum and participating in code reviews with the Space Reviewers. Starting as a participant in the first Djangonaut Space session, she progressed to become both a Captain and Session organizer. She has been a DSF member since March 2024. Lilian is looking for new opportunities!

You can learn more about Lilian by visiting Lilian's website and her GitHub Profile.

Let’s spend some time getting to know Lilian better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc)?

My name is Lilian and I started contributing to Django during the sprint days of DjangoCon US 2023. I continued contributing through the Djangonaut Space program, where I've been involved as a mentee, a mentor, and a session organizer. I love the impact the program brings to Django and how it has helped so many individuals in various ways. My hobbies include cooking and sharing meals with my friends and volunteering at local events.

I'm curious, where does your GitHub nickname come from?

Haha, towhee is a bird and I just prefixed it with the preposition “on”.

How did you start using Django?

I had a project from a client where there was an existing website that was built in PHP. The client wanted to add new features. At the time, I was mainly using Flask for other projects, but I started seeing Django rise in popularity. I evaluated PHP and Django, and I chose Django for its security features. The fact that it was in Python also meant I could develop the new features pretty quickly. The project ended up being a hybrid of PHP and Django with Apache server routing different pages to each application.

What other framework do you know and if there is anything you would like to have in Django if you had magical powers?

I've worked with Flask and SQLAlchemy. I like that SQLAlchemy comes with an ORM, but you can still build queries without it. I like that its queries resemble SQL. In Django, I would like to have a way to write CTEs without resorting to raw SQL and losing the mapping between data and objects. There is the django-cte library, but constructing the queries can still be challenging to me. There’s definitely a tradeoff. However, I don’t know if asking Django to support CTEs is the answer.

What projects are you working on now?

I'm building an ELT (Extract, Transform, Load) pipeline to pull data from multiple sources and run analyses. I'm learning tools like dbt (data build tool) and Airflow to orchestrate the data transformation. It's very interesting to use a framework for managing data.

What are you learning about these days?

I'm learning about databases. I’ve always been curious about their implementation. When I worked on tickets for Django’s ORM, the comments and code reviews from Simon Charette showed me where to look for information, and that got me to dive in further. I participate in the Postgres Patch Review Workshop to review patches, and Andy Pavlo’s lectures are a great source to learn from too.

Which Django libraries are your favorite (core or 3rd party)?

One of my favorite libraries is django-extensions, because it has many useful commands, including the graph_models command that generates ERDs, which helps me navigate the data models in larger projects.

My other favorite libraries are django-allauth and django-rest-framework, because I use it in pretty much every project.

What are the top three things in Django that you like?

I like Djangonaut Space, the community, and the documentation.

You've shown a lot of interest in the contribution process lately, could you share a bit more what you are trying to do and what your goal is?

Django is known for having a high barrier to entry when it comes to contributions and it can have long turnaround times. Djangonaut Space is trying to change that by having mentors guide people through the process and help with code reviews.

How can we expand this effort to make onboarding new contributors easier?

What are some low hanging fruits that will make contributing to Django a more intuitive and pleasant experience?

Areas I’m exploring include:

1. Make the ticket lifecycle more prominent. Make the queues easy to access, and ensure a ticket will get attention from the right people.

2. Gain insights into contribution bottlenecks so DSF Board and Working Groups can make better decisions on where to allocate funds and resources.

3. Provide recognition for work done beyond the PR authorship to encourage continued involvement.

You have taken part of Djangonaut Space program in many ways, do you have any advice or thing to mention for people hesitant to apply to the program for the future session?

For anyone who is hesitant, check out the media page to learn about past participants' experiences. Check out the AMA video and many other videos on the YouTube channel to learn more about the program. There are many opportunities to try new things and learn new skills in open source, and Djangonaut Space is a great place to get started. You'll meet and work with people from all around the globe, which is pretty awesome!

What do you do for fun outside of programming?

I am trying new things! I’m volunteering at a community run radio station, where I’m learning to operate the video cameras during live mic events and training to become a DJ. It’s pretty cool meeting bands from all around the world.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I'm extremely grateful for the Djangonaut Space program and the Django community!

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Thank you for doing the interview, Lilian !