2025 DSF Board elections candidates and voting

Announcements
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Thank you to our 21 2025 DSF Board Candidates for putting themselves forward! Their public statements are now available for all to read. Those eligible to vote in this election will receive information on how to vote shortly. Please check for an email with the subject line “2025 DSF Board Voting”. Voting will close at 23:59 on November 15, 2024 Anywhere on Earth.

We have 3 current board members who will be continuing without standing for election due to the board serving staggered terms: Jacob Kaplan-Moss (@jacobian); Sarah Abderemane (@sabderemane); Thibaud Colas (@thibaudcolas). Our deepest gratitude goes to our departing board members, Çağıl Uluşahin Sonmez (@cgl), Chaim Kirby (@ckirby), Katie McLaughlin (@glasnt); for your contributions and commitment to the Django community :heart:

What the DSF board does

The Board of Directors consists of seven volunteers who are elected to two year terms. This is an excellent opportunity to help advance Django. They guide the direction of the marketing, governance and outreach activities of the Django community. We provide funding, resources, and guidance to Django events on a global level. Further we provide support to the Django community with an established Code of Conduct and make decisions and enforcement recommendations for violations. We work with our corporate and individual members to raise funds to help support our great community.

More information

For more information, see our initial announcement 2025 DSF Board Nominations and the corresponding forum thread. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or you can email foundation@djangoproject.com.

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Thibaud Colas writes:

What the DSF board does

The Board of Directors consists of seven volunteers who are elected to
two year terms. This is an excellent opportunity to help advance
Django. They guide the direction of the marketing, governance and
outreach activities of the Django community. We provide funding,
resources, and guidance to Django events on a global level. Further we
provide support to the Django community with an established Code of
Conduct and make decisions and enforcement recommendations for
violations. We work with our corporate and individual members to raise
funds to help support our great community.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, […]

(I’m not eligible to vote, but maybe some of the things could be of
interest to the broader community?)

So this is what the DSF board does generally speaking, but is there some
(bi)yearly or so report of what the DSF board has done in the past
specifically? I mean not in such great detail as the Django Fellow
Report, but like some kind of overview? Which events were sponsored or
received resources or guidance? Any changes to the Code of Conduct? Any
actions on violations? Fund raising, marketing activities … and I bet
much more?

And while I’m at it, it might be good to know, who can approach the DSF
board for support with events? Any individual, DSF members only, small
user groups, non-profits, companies affiliated to Django/DSF, any
company big or small? And for what kind of events? A fika of two Django
fans, Django meetup or (big) conferences only?

I haven’t followed all Django/DSF board related news closely over the
past years, so my apologies if such a report is present somewhere. And if
there is no such thing, than that’s ok for me. Just asking out of
curiosity.

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Most of this information can be found on the Django web site.

For example:

I don’t know so much about a “report”, but the monthly meeting minutes are posted at Meeting minutes archive, with older minutes available at the bottom of Django Software Foundation Public Records. Do these cover what you’re looking for?

This information can be found at So you want to hold a Django event? | Django, which I think pretty much answers all the questions you ask in this paragraph.

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These are all good questions. @KenWhitesell already answered a bit.

To add more context, only individual members can vote for the DSF Board. There are about 200 or so. Anyone can be nominated for this (see the form and application); the DSF Board reviews and approves/denies applications during their monthly meetings.

I previously served on the DSF Board and wrote a bit about it here and here. I just started a YouTube channel and have a video planned talking about how Django is actually run, since most users have no clue about these things.

The tl;dr is that volunteers run everything and there’s a ton to do so Django doesn’t market itself well or at all. This is something future Board Members might work on.

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Small naming question: the “Alex Gómez” on the list is “Alex Gómez Martín”. Just want to check they didn’t want their last name there, since they use it on other platforms.

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I can confirm I prefer my second last name to not be on the list if possible (And I think I mentioned this via email, but the nomination had my full name so I guess that’s how it ended like that).
It’s not a big urgent deal, tho.

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Hey Alex, I believe this task is for our great DSF secretary, @thibaudcolas, who will check that when he will have some time since he is currently travelling.

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I was hoping to do more Q&A here but alas other things came up :slight_smile: There are 23 hours, 32 minutes, and 15 seconds left to vote. If you haven’t already, do it now! (check your emails)

And re the above questions about Alex, we‘ve made the necessary updates.

How many board members are there up for elections exactly?

Our seven board members serve staggered terms so it’s easier to have continuity over the years. Three board members have their term end in December 2025. And four have their term on the board ending this December 2024. Of those four, one board member is standing for re-elections for another 2-year term, and three are departing.

How are candidate statements screened? Are links reviewed? (ie: fishing, tracking, etc).

We review all statements ahead of time, and if there could be a problem we reach out to the candidate to ask them whether they want to make a change or keep their nomination as-is. Links are reviewed, though there are always ways for problematic links or any other content to make it through. If you spot any issues please let us know.

Can I re-do my votes?

Yes, please ask in DMs or over email at foundation@djangoproject.com. We will need to remove your votes, then you can vote like you did the first time. It’s completely fine to ask whether because you made a mistake, or because you changed your mind.

Can I confirm that I have voted?

There is no way for voters to see their own ballot after they’ve submitted their vote, but you can ask (DMs, email) and we can confirm. We can also let you know what your votes were if it helps.

What happens if I don’t vote?

Nothing. It’s completely fine if you’re busy and just didn’t get to it. We want as many people to vote as possible, but we’re very aware life gets in the way sometimes.

Is there a specific voter turnout needed?

Nope, our foundation’s bylaws don’t mandate anything. Though internally our goal for this year is to have more than 50% of DSF Individual Members voting.

As a point of comparison,

  • In 2023, for the 2024 DSF Board elections, we had 46% voter turnout
  • In 2022, for the 2023 DSF Board elections, we had 37% voter turnout
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