2026 DSF Board Candidates

I’m Aayush Gauba, a Django developer and Djangonaut Space mentee passionate about open source security and AI integration in web systems. I’ve spoken at DjangoCon US and actively contribute to the Django community through projects like AIWAF. My focus is on using technology to build safer and more inclusive ecosystems for developers worldwide.

Over the past few years, I’ve contributed to multiple areas of technology ranging from web development and AI security to research in quantum inspired computing. I’ve presented talks across these domains, including at DjangoCon US, where I spoke about AI powered web security and community driven innovation. Beyond Django, I’ve published academic papers exploring the intersection of ethics, quantum AI, and neural architecture design presented at IEEE and other research venues. These experiences have helped me understand both the technical and philosophical challenges of building responsible and transparent technology. As a Djangonaut Space mentee, I’ve been on the learning side of Django’s mentorship process and have seen firsthand how inclusive guidance and collaboration can empower new contributors. I bring a perspective that connects deep research with community growth and balancing innovation with the values that make Django strong: openness, ethics, and accessibility.

As part of the DSF board, I would like to bridge the gap between experienced contributors and new voices. I believe mentorship and accessibility are key to Django’s future. I would also like to encourage discussions around responsible AI integration, web security, and community growth ensuring Django continues to lead both technically and ethically. My goal is to help the DSF stay forward looking while staying true to its open, supportive roots.

I have been a software engineer for over 20 years and have been deploying Django in production for over 10. When not writing code, I'm probably playing pinball, watching a movie, or shouting into the void on social media.

I have been working with Django in production for over 10 years at The Motley Fool where I am a Staff Engineer. I have also participated in the Djangonauts program for my Django Unicorn library, gave a talk at DjangoCon EU (virtual) and multiple lightning talks at DjangoCon US conferences, built multiple libraries for Django and Python, have a semi-regularly updated podcast about Django with my friend, Sangeeta, and just generally try to push the Django ecosystem forward in positive ways.

The key issue I would like to get involved with is updating the djangoproject.com website. The homepage itself hasn't changed substantially in over 10 years and I think Django could benefit from a fresh approach to selling itself to developers who are interested in a robust, stable web framework. I created a forum post around this here: Want to work on a homepage site redesign?. I also have a document where I lay out some detailed ideas about the homepage here: Django Homepage Redesign.

I’m am based in academia and am a senior Creative Technologist and Psychologist. I have a PhD in Multisensory Perception. I make web apps and love combining new technologies. I’ve worked in academia (Sheffield, Dublin, Bangor, Manchester, Royal Holloway), industry (Unilever, NL), and founded three technology-based startups. I am proud of my neurodiversity.

I was on the review team of DjangoCon Europe 2021. I have had several blog posts included on the Django Newsletter (e.g. django htmx modal popup loveliness). I have written a scientific article on using Django for academic research (under peer review). I have several projects mentioned on Django Packages e.g. MrBenn Toolbar Plugin. I am part of a cohort of people who regularly meet to discuss python based software they are developing in the context of startups, started by Michael Kennedy. Here is an example of an opensource django-based project I am developing there: Tootology.

I am keen on strengthening the link between Django and the academic community. Django has enormous potential as a research and teaching tool, but us academics don't know about this! I would like to make amends by advocating for members of our community to appear on academic podcasts and social media platforms to promote Django’s versatility, and to reach new audiences.

In my professional life, I lead work on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and am committed to creating fair and supportive environments. I will bring this to the DSF. The Django community already takes great strides in this area, and I would like to build upon this progress. Python recently turning down a $1.5 million grant, which I feels exemplifies the awesomeness of the greater community we are a part of.

I’m Apoorv Garg, a Django Software Foundation Member and open source advocate. I actively organize and volunteer for community events around Django, Grafana, and Postgres. Professionally, I work as a software engineer at a startup, focusing on building scalable backend systems and developer tools. I’m also part of the Google Summer of Code working groups with Django and JdeRobot, contributing to mentorship and open source development for over four years.

I have been actively speaking at various tech communities including Python, FOSSASIA, Django, Grafana, and Postgres. Over time, I’ve gradually shifted from just speaking to also organizing and volunteering at these community events, helping others get involved and build connections around open source technologies.

Beyond work, I’ve been mentoring students through Google Summer of Code with Django and JdeRobot. I also teach high school students the fundamentals of Python, Django, and robotics, helping them build curiosity and confidence in programming from an early stage.

Last year, I joined the Accessibility Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which focuses on improving web accessibility standards and ensuring inclusive digital experiences for all users. My goal is to bring these learnings into the Django ecosystem, aligning its community and tools with global accessibility best practices.

Looking at the issues, I believe the opportunity of Google Summer of Code is currently very limited in Django. I know Django already has a lot of contributions, but being part of the core members in the JdeRobot organization, which is a small open source group, I understand the pain points we face when trying to reach that level of contribution. The way we utilize GSoC in JdeRobot has helped us grow, improve productivity, and bring in long-term contributors. I believe Django can benefit from adopting a similar approach.

Funding is another major issue faced by almost every open source organization. There are continuous needs around managing grants for conferences, supporting local communities and fellows, and sponsoring initiatives that strengthen the ecosystem. Finding sustainable ways to handle these challenges is something I want to focus on.

I also plan to promote Django across different open source programs. In my opinion, Django should not be limited to Python or Django-focused events. It can and should have a presence in database and infrastructure communities such as Postgres, Grafana, FOSSASIA, and W3C conferences around the world. This can help connect Django with new audiences and create more collaboration opportunities.

I’m Ariane Djeupang from Cameroon (Central Africa) , a ML Engineer, Project Manager, and Community Organizer passionate about building sustainable, inclusive tech ecosystems across Africa. As a Microsoft MVP in the Developer Technologies category, an active DSF member and a leader in open source communities, I believe in the power of collaboration, documentation, and mentorship to unlock global impact.

My efforts focus on lowering the barriers to meaningful participation. My work sits at the intersection of production engineering, clear technical communication, and community building. I’ve spent years building ML production-ready systems with Django, FastAPI, Docker, cloud platforms, and also ensuring that the knowledge behind those systems is accessible to others. I’ve turned complex workflows into approachable, accessible guides and workshops that empower others to build confidently. I’ve also collaborated with global networks to promote ethical ML/AI and sustainable tech infrastructure in resource-constrained environments.

Through my extensive experience organizing major events like: DjangoCon Africa, UbuCon Africa, PyCon Africa, DjangoCon US, EuroPython, I’ve created inclusive spaces where underrepresented voices lead, thrive and are celebrated. This has equipped me with the skills and insights needed to drive inclusivity, sustainability and community engagement. I volunteer on both the DSF's CoC and the D&I (as Chair) working groups. I also contribute to the scientific community through projects like NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, the DISCOVER COOKBOOK (under NumFOCUS' DISC Program).

As the very first female Cameroonian to be awarded Microsoft MVP, this recognition reflects years of consistent contribution, technical excellence, and community impact. The program connects me with a global network that I actively leverage to bring visibility, resources, and opportunities back to Django and Python communities, bridging local initiatives with global platforms to amplify Django’s reach and relevance. It demonstrates that my work is recognized at the highest levels of the industry.

As a young Black African woman in STEM from a region of Africa with pretty limited resources and an active DSF member, I’ve dedicated my career to fostering inclusivity and representation in the tech and scientific spaces and I am confident that I bring a unique perspective to the table.

I will push the DSF to be more than a steward of code, to be a catalyst for global belonging. My priorities are:

• Radical inclusion: I'll work to expand resources and support for contributors from underrepresented regions, especially in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. This includes funding for local events, mentorship pipelines, and multilingual documentation sprints.
• Sustainable community infrastructure: I’ll advocate for sustainable models of community leadership, ones that recognize invisible labor, prevent burnout, and promote distributed governance. We need to rethink how we support organizers, maintainers, and contributors beyond code.
• Ethical tech advocacy: I’ll help the DSF navigate the ethical dimensions of Django’s growing role in AI and data-driven systems. From privacy to fairness, Django can lead by example. And I’ll work to ensure our framework reflects our values.
• Global partnerships: I want to strengthen partnerships with regional communities and allied open-source foundations, ensuring Django’s growth is global and socially conscious.

I will bring diversity, a young and energized spirit that I think most senior boards lack. My vision is for the DSF to not only maintain Django but to set the standard for inclusive, ethical, and sustainable open source. My goal is simple: to make Django the most welcoming, resilient, and socially conscious web framework in the world.

Information Technology Experience 15 years

Microsoft Technology Python MongoDB Cloud Technology Testing People Manager Supervisor L2 Production Support and Maintenance

Well experience in software sales product delivery operations Agile Scrum and Marketing.

I am a software developer, primarily using Python and Javascript, building web and mobile applications. At my workplace, I lead the Tech Department and the Data team.

I love developer communities and supported emerging developers through meetups, training, and community events including PyCon Kenya, local Django Meetup and university outreach.

At Swahilipot Hub, I built internal tools, supported digital programs, and mentored over 300 young developers through industrial attachment programs. I primarily use Django and React to development internal tools, websites (Swahilipot Hub) including our radio station site (Swahilipot FM).

I also work with Green World Campaign Kenya on the AIRS platform, where we use AI, cloud technology, and blockchain to support environmental projects and rural communities.

Outside of engineering, I write technical content and actively organise and support developer communities along the Kenyan coast to help more young people grow into tech careers - Chris Achinga’s Articles and Written Stuff

I would want to get involved more on the community side, diversity in terms of regional presentation and awareness of Django, and the Django Software Foundation. In as much as they's a lot of efforts in place. With no available African entity of the DSF, this would make it difficult for companies/organization in Africa to donate and support the DSF, I would love to champion for that and pioner towards that direction, not only for Africa but also for other under-represented geographical areas.

I wasn't so sure about this last year, but I am more confident, with a better understanding of the Django ecosystem and I know I have the capabilities of getting more contributions to Django, both financially and code-wise. I would also love to make sure that Django and the ecosystem is well know through proper communication channels, I know this differs based on different countries, the goal is to make sure that the DSF is all over, of course, where we are needed. Create the feeling that Django is for everyone, everywhere!

I am a Rural Engineer from Universidade Eduardo Mondlane with practical experience in technology, data management, telecommunications, and sustainabilitty

In recent years, I have worked as a trainer and coach, as well as a researcher, empowering young people with programming, digital skills, and data analysis. I have also contributed to open-source projects, promoting access to technology and remote learning in several cities across Mozambique. These experiences have strengthened my belief in the power of open-source communities to create opportunities, foster collaboration, and drive innovation in regions with limited resources.

The thing I want the DSF to do is to expand its support for students and early career professionals.Personally, what I want to achieve is collaboration and transparency in actions as integrity is non negotiable.

I was one of the original maintainers of Django, and was the original founder and first President of the DSF. I re-joined the DSF board in 2023, and have served as Treasurer since 2024. I used to be a software engineer and security consultant (REVSYS, Latacora, 18F, Heroku), before mostly retiring from tech in 2025 to become an EMT.

I've been a member of the DSF Board for 3 years, so I bring some institutional knowledge there. I've been involved in the broader Django community as long as there has been a Django community, though the level of my involvement has waxed and waned. The accomplishments I'm the most proud of in the Django community are creating our Code of Conduct (djangoproject.com/conduct/), and more recently establishing the DSF's Working Groups model (django/dsf-working-groups).

Outside of the Django community, I have about 15 years of management experience, at companies small and large (and also in the US federal government).

I'm running for re-election with three goals for the DSF: (a) hire an Executive Director, (b) build more ""onramps"" into the DSF and Django community, and (c) expand and update our Grants program.

Hire an ED: this is my main goal for 2026, and the major reason I'm running for re-election. The DSF has grown past the point where being entirely volunteer-ran is working; we need transition the organization towards a more professional non-profit operation. Which means paid staff. Members of the Board worked on this all throughout 2025, mostly behind the scenes, and we're closer than ever -- but not quite there. We need to make this happen in 2026.

Build ""onramps"": this was my main goal when I ran in 2024 (see my statement at 2024 DSF Board Candidates). We've had some success there: several Working Groups are up and running, and over on the technical side we helped the Steering Council navigate a tricky transition, and they're now headed in a more positive direction. I'm happy with our success there, but there's still work to do; helping more people get involved with the DSF and Django would continue to be a high-level goal of mine. And, I'd like to build better systems for recognition of people who contribute to the DSF/Django — there are some incredible people working behind the scenes that most of the community has heard of.

Expand and update our grants program: our grants program is heavily overdue for a refresh. I'd like to update our rules and policies, make funding decisions clearer and less ad-hoc, increase the amount of money we're giving per grant, and (funding allowing) expand to to other kinds of grants (e.g. travel grants, feature grants, and more). I'd also like to explore turning over grant decisions to a Working Group (or subcommittee of the board), to free up Board time for more strategic work.

I’m a proud Individual Member of the Django Software Foundation and a full-stack software engineer with a strong focus on Django and mobile development. Beyond code, I’m deeply involved in the global Python and Django , Google & FlutterFlow communities, actively contributing to the organization of several major conferences around the world.

I am a passionate full-stack software engineer with a strong focus on Django and mobile development. Over the years, I’ve contributed to the global Python and Django communities through volunteering, organizing, and speaking. I served as the Opportunity Grant Co-Chair for DjangoCon US (2024 & 2025), where I help ensure accessibility and inclusion for underrepresented groups. I also helped Organise DjangoCon Europe, where my impact was felt (see LinkedIn post)

I was also the as Design Lead for PyCon Africa 2024 and PyCon Ghana 2025 , where i worked everything designs to make the conference feel like home (see LinkedIn post) and I also helped organise other regional events, including DjangoCon Africa, PyCon Namibia, PyCon Portugal and etc. Beyond organising, I’ve spoken at several local and international conferences, sharing knowledge and promoting community growth including PyCon Africa, DjangoCon Africa, PyCon Nigeria, and PyCon Togo.

I’m also an Individual Member of the Django Software Foundation, and my work continues to center on empowering developers, building open communities, and improving access for newcomers in tech.

As a board member, I want to help strengthen Django’s global community by improving accessibility, diversity, and engagement especially across regions where Django adoption is growing but still lacks strong community infrastructure, such as Africa and other underrepresented areas.

My experience as Opportunity Grant Co-Chair for DjangoCon US and Design Lead for PyCon Africa has shown me how powerful community-driven support can be when it’s backed by inclusion and transparency. I want the DSF to continue building bridges between developers, organizers, and contributors making sure that everyone, regardless of location or background, feels seen and supported.

I believe the DSF can take a more active role in empowering local communities, improving mentorship pathways, and creating better visibility for contributors who work behind the scenes. I also want to support initiatives that make Django more approachable to new developers through clearer learning materials and global outreach programs.

Personally, I want to help the DSF improve communication with international communities, expand partnerships with educational programs and tech organizations, and ensure the next generation of developers see Django as not just a framework, but a welcoming and sustainable ecosystem.

My direction for leadership is guided by collaboration, empathy, and practical action building on Django’s strong foundation while helping it evolve for the future

I am Kyagulanyi Allan, a software developer, and co-founder at Grin Mates. Grin Mates is an eco-friendly EVM dApp with an inbuilt crypto wallet that awards Green points for verified sustainable activities. Ii am very excited about the potential of web3 and saddened by some other parts of it.

I am a developer, and I have been lucky to volunteer and also contribute. I worked on diverse projects like AROC and Grin Mates. I volunteered as a Google student developer lead at my university, when i was working at after query experts on project pluto. I used Python to train the LLM mode on bash/linux commands.

My position on key issues is on advancing and advocating for inclusiveness, with priority on children from rural areas.

My name is Nicole Buque, a 20-year-old finalist student in Computer Engineering from Mozambique. I am deeply passionate about data analysis, especially in the context of database systems, and I love transforming information into meaningful insights that drive innovation.

During my academic journey, I have worked with Vodacom, contributing to website development projects that improved digital communication and accessibility. I also participated in the WT Bootcamp for Data Analysis, where I gained strong analytical, technical, and teamwork skills. As an aspiring IT professional, I enjoy exploring how data, systems, and community collaboration can create sustainable solutions. My experience has helped me develop both technical expertise and a people-centered approach to technology — understanding that real progress comes from empowering others through knowledge

Curious, explorer, calm, patient

My experience on Django is medium

My direction for the DSF is one of growth, mentorship, and openness ,ensuring Django remains a leading framework not just technically, but socially.

I'm a software engineer posionate about AI/ML and solving problems in the healthcare sector in collaboration with others.

I'm a skilled software engineer in the domain of AI/ML, Django, Reactjs, TailwindCSS. I have been building softwares for over 2 years now and growing myself in this space has brought some level of impact in the community as I have been organizing workshops in the university of Buea, teaching people about the Django framework, I also had the privilege to participate at the deep learning indaba Cameroon where I was interviewed by CRTV to share knowledge with respect to deep learning. You could see all these on my LinkedIn profile (Ntui Raoul).

I believe that in collaboration with others at the DSF, I'll help the DSF to improve in it's ways to accomplish its goals. I believe we shall improve on the codebase of Django framework, it's collaboration with other frameworks so as to help the users of the framework to find it more easy to use the Django framework. Also I'll help to expand the Django framework to people across the world.

I'm Priya Pahwa (she/her), an Indian woman who found both community and confidence through Django. I work as a Software Engineer (Backend and DevOps) at a fintech startup and love volunteering in community spaces. From leading student communities as a GitHub Campus Expert to contributing as a GitHub Octern and supporting initiatives in the Django ecosystem, open-source is an integral part of my journey as a developer.

My belonging to the Django community has been shaped by serving as the Session Organizer of the global Djangonaut Space program, where I work closely with contributors and mentors from diverse geographies, cultures, age groups, and both coding and non-coding backgrounds. Being part of the organizing team for Sessions 3, 4, and ongoing 5, each experience has evolved my approach towards better intentional community stewardship and collaboration.

I also serve as Co-Chair of the DSF Fundraising Working Group since its formation in mid-2024. As we enter the execution phase, we are focused on establishing additional long-term funding streams for the DSF. I intend to continue this work by:

• Running sustained fundraising campaigns rather than one-off appeals
• Building corporate sponsorship relationships for major donations
• Focusing on the funding of the Executive Director for financial resilience

My commitment to a supportive ecosystem guides my work. I am a strong advocate of psychological safety in open-source, a topic I've publicly talked about (“Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” at PyCon Greece and DjangoCongress Japan). This belief led me to join the DSF Code of Conduct Working Group because the health of a community is determined not only by who joins, but by who feels able to stay.

If elected to the board, I will focus on:

• Moving fundraising WG from “effort” to infrastructure (already moving in the direction by forming the DSF prospectus)
• Initiating conference travel grants to lower barriers and increase participation for active community members
• Strengthening cross-functional working groups' collaboration to reduce organizational silos
• Designing inclusive contributor lifecycles to support pauses for caregiving or career breaks
• Highlighting diverse user stories and clearer “here’s how to get involved” community pathways
• Amplifying DSF’s public presence and impact through digital marketing strategies

my name is Quinter Apondi Ochieng from Kisumu city , i am a web developer from kisumu city , Django has been part of my development professional journey for the past two years , i have contributed to local meetups as a community leader, developed several website one being an e-commerce website , also organized Django Girls kisumu workshop which didn't come to success due to financial constrains, workshop was to take place 1st November but postponed it.

In my current position, i lead small team building Django based applications, i have also volunteered as python kisumu community committee member which i served as a non-profit tech boards driven by passion.The experience have strengthen my skills in collaborations , decision making , long-term project planning and governance.I understand how important it is for the DSF to balance technical progress with sustainability and transparency.

The challenge I can help to negotiate is limited mentorship and unemployment. It has always blown my mind why IT, computer science, and SWE graduates struggle after campus life. In my country, SWE,IT and comp sci courses have final year projects that they pass and that have not been presented to any educational institute. I believe that if those projects are shipped, unemployment will be cut by over 50 %.

I am a software architect working for over 13 years in the field of software development based out of Gurugram, India. For the past 8 years, I have been working 100% remotely, working as an independent contractor under my own company deskmonte

As a kid I was always the one breaking more toys than I played with and was super curious. Coming from a normal family background, we always had a focus on academics. Although I did not break into the top tier colleges, the intent and curiosity to learn more stayed.

As of now, I am happily married with an year old kid.

My skills are primarily Python and Django, have been using the same tech stack since the last decade. Have used it to create beautiful admin interfaces for my clients, have written APIs in both REST using django rest framework package along with GraphQL using django-graphene. Alongside, have almost always integrated Postgres and Celery+Redis with my core tech stack.

In terms of volunteering, I have been an active code mentor at Code Institute, Ireland and have been with them since 2019, helping students pick up code using Python and Django for the most part.

I love the django rest framework and I truly believe that the admin interface is extremely powerful and the utility of the overall offering is huge.

I would love to take django to people who are just starting up, support and promote for more meetups/conferences that can focus on django along with advancing django's utility in the age of AI.

I'm Ryan and I’m running for the DSF Board in the hopes of being the Treasurer. I've been using Django since 2018. After several years of use, I finally had a chance to attend DjangoCon US in 2022. I felt like I finally found a community where I belonged and knew that I wanted to do whatever I could to give back.

My involvement with the community over the last several years includes being a:

• Maintainer of Django Packages
• Navigator with Djangonaut Space three times helping the Djangonauts work on Django Core
• Member of the Admin Team of Django Commons
• Three-time speaker at DjangoCon US

If elected to the board, I would bring valuable skills to benefit the community, including:

• Managing technical teams for nearly 15 years
• Nearly 20 years of project management experience
• Overseeing the financial operations for a team of nearly 30
• Consensus-building on large projects

I'm particularly drawn to the treasurer role because my background in financial management and budgeting positions me to help ensure the DSF's continued financial health and transparency.

For more details on my implementation plan, see my blog post Details on My Candidate Statement for the DSF.

If elected to the DSF Board I have a few key initiatives I'd like to work on:

1. Getting an Executive Director to help run the day-to-day operations of the DSF
2. Identifying small to midsized companies for sponsorships
3. Implementing a formal strategic planning process
4. Setting up a fiscal sponsorship program to allow support of initiatives like Django Commons

I believe these are achievable in the next 2 years.

I’m Sanyam Khurana (“CuriousLearner”), a seasoned Django contributor and member of the djangoproject.com Website Working Group, as well as a CPython bug triager and OSS maintainer. I’ve worked in India, the U.K., and Canada, and I’m focused on inclusion, dependable tooling, and turning first-time contributors into regulars.

I’ve contributed to Django and the wider Python ecosystem for years as a maintainer, reviewer, and issue triager. My Django-focused work includes django-phone-verify (auth flows), django-postgres-anonymizer (privacy/data handling), and Django-Keel (a production-ready project template). I also build developer tooling like CacheSniper (a tiny Rust CLI to sanity-check edge caching).

Repos: django-phone-verify , django-postgres-anonymizer , django-keel , cache_sniper

CPython & Django contributions: django commits, djangoproject.com commits, CPython commits

Beyond code, I’ve supported newcomers through docs-first guidance, small PR reviews, and patient issue triage. I’m a CPython bug triager and listed in Mozilla credits, which taught me to balance openness with careful review and clear process. I’ve collaborated across India, UK, and Canada, so I’m used to async work, time-zones, and transparent communication.

I owe my learnings to the community and want to give back. I understand the DSF Board is non-technical leadership like fundraising, grants/sponsorships, community programs, CoC support, and stewardship of Django’s operations and not deciding framework features. That’s exactly where I want to contribute.

I’ll push for an easy, skimmable annual “Where your donation went” report (fellows, events, grants, infra) plus lightweight quarterly updates. Clear storytelling helps retain individual and corporate sponsors and shows impact beyond core commits.

I want to grow contributors globally by turning their first PR into regular contributions. I want to make this path smoother by funding micro-grants for mentorship/sprints and backing working groups with small, delegated budgets under clear guardrails - so they can move fast without waiting on the Board.

I propose a ready-to-use “starter kit” for meetups/sprints: budget templates, venue ask letters, CoC, diversity travel-grant boilerplates, and a sponsor prospectus. We should prioritize regions with high Django usage but fewer historic DSF touchpoints (South Asia, Africa, LATAM). This comes directly from organizing over 120 meetups and annual conference like PyCon India for 3 years.