The NumFOCUS Board of Directors approved the new NumFOCUS Code of Conduct (CoC) on September 4, 2024. Before it goes into effect, the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group (NF CoC WG) must be established, and the elected members must receive the training required to fulfill their responsibilities on this working group. This process is expected to be finalized by the end of January 2025.
Effective February 2025, NumFOCUS will implement a new Community Code of Conduct to further support inclusivity and respect within our community. The new policy reaffirms our commitment to fostering a safe, equitable, and welcoming environment for all individuals, regardless of their background or identity.
This blog post outlines the role of the NF Code of Conduct Working Group, introduces the newly elected members of this Group, and details the timeline for communicating the new CoC to NumFOCUS Projects and the PyData community.
The New Code of Conduct Working Group
The NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group (NF CoC WG) is a new committee supporting NumFOCUS Sponsored and Affiliated projects, and the NumFOCUS online and event communities. Its role is to review, investigate, respond, and advise on potential conduct violations. On request, the WG may also provide guidance to projects and communities in the NumFOCUS ecosystem. NumFOCUS event organizers will continue to form Code of Conduct Event Response Teams to receive reports and determine responses. Additionally, they may seek advice from the WG on the best approach to handling some reports.
For detailed information on the WG responsibilities and areas of support, refer to the WG Charter (Section: NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group Charter).
Election Process
On September 20, 2024, we announced the opening of nominations for the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group (NF CoC WG). The nomination period closed on October 20. Nominations were accepted for self-nominations as well as for nominating others. The announcement was shared via NumFOCUS Medium, Internal Project Weekly Updates (mailing list and GitHub), NumFOCUS social media channels, the PyData Meetup mailing list, and discussed by the DISC Committee. A total of 58 nominations were received.
As the next step, nominees were contacted via email and provided with a link to the application form, where they could formally express their willingness to serve on the NF CoC WG. Nominees were asked to submit their form within 13 days (October 21 — November 2). We received 34 completed applications.
The NumFOCUS Board of Directors selected nine candidates through asynchronous voting, and the results were communicated internally on December 9. As of December 16, all elected members have confirmed their willingness to serve on the NF CoC WG via email.
Congratulations!
Meet the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group Members
(The introductions are submitted directly by the working group members without edits from the NF staff.)
After having a career as a Data Scientist and Developer Advocate, Cheuk dedicated her work to the open-source community. Currently, she is working as AI developer advocate for JetBrains. She has co-founded Humble Data, a beginner Python workshop that has been happening around the world. She has served the EuroPython Society board for two years and is now a fellow and director of the Python Software Foundation.
I’m Kalyan Prasad from India! I began my journey as a newspaper delivery boy and, through perseverance and self-learning, evolved into a Data and AI Scientist. Along the way, I’ve led data and analytics teams and previously served as a Data Science and Analytics Manager. I have experience balancing both industry and academia, which has shaped my approach to problem-solving and innovation. I’m passionate about open-source communities, and for over 6 years, I’ve led and actively participated in and helped with various activities within the Python, data science, and scientific communities worldwide.
I am a DevOps Engineer with over 6 years of experience in cloud technologies, including AWS, Kubernetes, and Docker. As an active volunteer and organizer for various PyCon events worldwide, I am passionate about fostering community engagement and inclusivity in tech. I’m excited to contribute to the NF ecosystem and collaborate with fellow members!
Margaret Fero (they/them) is an open source contributor and privacy researcher who started attending Python events through their work with the Write the Docs. They’ve stuck around and begun using Python more because of the Pythonista community, and because of the excellent packages for their machine learning and information security projects. They are currently the Sponsorships Lead at Techtonica, a US-based nonprofit helping women and nonbinary adults seeking economic empowerment overcome barriers to technical roles.
Hand Moritz Günther grew up in Germany, where he obtained an undergraduate and a PhD degree in Physics from the University of Hamburg with a thesis in astronomy. After that, he went as a Post-Doc to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and now works at MIT as a staff researcher for a major NASA science mission, the Chandra X-ray telescope. As part of this job, he develops software and analysis algorithms for X-ray astronomy. Moritz has also developed software for the analysis of performance data of reconstructed antique Roman river warships.
In Germany, he volunteered for the Red Cross in a range of positions from teaching first aid, training as an EMT, and leading a disaster control group. In these roles, he worked with people from diverse backgrounds and practiced and planned for supporting people in high-stress situations. Moritz started contributing to open source as an early contributor to the Astropy project, which he has supported in different organizational roles in the last few years.
Noor Aftab brings over a decade of experience driving tech innovation and digital transformation in the cloud and AI industries. As a Senior Program Manager at Amazon, she leads strategic customer engagements for the Amazon S3 program, building Generative AI solutions to enhance productivity and customer success.
Noor has spearheaded speaker programs for AWS’s largest events, including re:Invent, AWS Summits, re:Inforce, and Pi Day, delivering program excellence while championing diversity. She is a PyData Global reviewer, ensuring high-quality, inclusive proposals, and has mentored globally, including at NASA Space Apps and hackathons, where she upholds Codes of Conduct to create respectful and inclusive spaces.
With expertise in data science, analytics, and program leadership, Noor is committed to building equitable, innovative, and thriving tech communities.
Yashasvi Misra is a Data Engineer at AB InBev, celebrated as a Grace Hopper Scholar, and a recipient of the prestigious Excellence Award from Samsung Research India. With a strong foundation in Data Modeling, Data Architecture, Python, and Data Science, Yashasvi excels in driving impactful projects and embracing cutting-edge technologies.
Passionate about open-source communities and advancing diversity and inclusion in tech, Yashasvi has been an influential speaker at renowned conferences like PyCon India 2024, PyLadiesCon 2024, PyData Global 2022, and EuroPython 2021. She has actively contributed to the Python ecosystem, particularly through PyLadies India, fostering growth and inclusivity within the community.
Beyond her technical achievements, Yashasvi’s advocacy for better workplace policies shines through initiatives like introducing the Period Leave policy for women employees at AB InBev GCC India, underscoring her commitment to employee well-being and equity.
The New NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Implementation Timeline
Revised on December 18, 2024
January 2025
- Onboarding of the newly elected NumFOCUS Code of Conduct Working Group (NF CoC WG) members including:
- CoC incident response training
- NF CoC introduction workshop
- NF CoC WG response procedures workshop
February 2025
- Onboarding information sessions for PyData chapters organizers. At the end of each info session, attendees will receive a Welcome Pack.
- NF CoC and NF CoC WG information sessions for all NF Projects.
The schedule of the sessions will be available in mid January 2025 and accommodate multiple time zones.
March 2025
- Request for expression of interest in partnering with the NF Code of Conduct Working Group opens. Projects must adopt the new NumFOCUS Code of Conduct before entering the partnership agreement.
Starting April 2025 — onwards
- Monthly information sessions for the Projects that have entered the partnership agreement with the NumFOCUS CoC WG. At the end of each info session, attendees will receive a Welcome Pack.
- Monthly NF CoC and NF CoC WG information sessions for all NF Projects.
- Providing training to the NF community members on various topics related to Code of Conduct implementation.
NumFOCUS Projects: Opt-in vs Opt-out
All NumFOCUS Sponsored and Affiliated projects are required to adopt a Code of Conduct (CoC) of their choice. The selected CoC must not be in direct conflict with the NumFOCUS Mission, Vision, or the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct.
Projects that sign an agreement with NumFOCUS prior to February 1, 2025, may opt in to the new NumFOCUS Code of Conduct, but are not required. We recognize that these projects joined the NF community before the full implementation of the new policy and are already operating under their existing Code of Conduct. NumFOCUS does not intend to mandate any changes for these projects.
The new CoC was developed in close collaboration with the NumFOCUS community and is designed to provide comprehensive support to NumFOCUS projects, the PyData community, and all events in the NF community. The NumFOCUS CoC Working Group (CoC WG) aims to serve as an independent competent body to assist with the most challenging CoC violation cases. We hope that both the new CoC and the CoC WG will simplify daily operations and foster a stronger, more supportive community.
Taking this into account, we would like to offer an opt-out option for new Affiliated and Sponsored projects signing an agreement with NumFOCUS starting February 1, 2025.
NumFOCUS Projects CTA
To ensure you make an informed decision regarding the adoption of the new Code of Conduct (CoC) for your project, we invite you to participate in the information sessions that we will be hosting starting February 2025. The schedule of the sessions will be available in mid January 2025 and accommodate multiple time zones.
For projects that become NumFOCUS Sponsored or Affiliated Projects before February 2025, a form will be provided to formally declare your decision about the adoption of the new NumFOCUS Code of Conduct. This will be an opt-in process.
For projects that join as Sponsor or Affiliated Projects of NumFOCUS after February 2025, the decision regarding the adoption of the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct will be made as part of your collaboration arrangements with NumFOCUS. If no other specific CoC is declared, your project will automatically adopt the new CoC. This will be an opt-out process.
PyData Chapters
As before, PyData Chapters operate under the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct (CoC). In practice, this means that once the new CoC becomes fully operational on February 1, 2025 — following the onboarding of the NumFOCUS CoC Working Group (CoC WG) — all PyData events, including meetups and conferences (both online and in-person), will be governed by the new CoC.
