Django

On November 16th 2005, Django co-creator Adrian Holovaty announced the first ever Django release, Django 0.90. Twenty years later, today here we are shipping the first release candidate of Django 6.0 🚀. Since we’re celebrating Django’s 20th birthday ... [More] this year, here are a few release-related numbers that represent Django’s history: 447 releases over 20 years. That’s about 22 per year on average. We’re at 38 so far for 2025. Fun fact: 33 of those releases predate PyPI, and were published via the Django website only! 131 security vulnerabilities addressed in those Django releases. Our security issues archive is a testament to our stellar track-record. 262,203 releases of Django-related packages. Django’s community ecosystem is gigantic. There’s tens of releases of Django packages per day as of 2025. There were 52 just today. With the caveat this depends a lot on what you classify as a "Django" package. This is what decades’ worth of a stable framework looks like. Expect more gradual improvements and bug fixes over the next twenty years’ worth of releases. And if you like this kind of data, check out the State of Django 2025 report by JetBrains, with lots of statistics on our ecosystem (and there’s a few hours left on their Get PyCharm Pro with 30 % Off & Support Django offer). Support Django If you or your employer counts on Django’s 20 years of stability, consider whether you can support the project via donations to our non-profit Django Software Foundation. ⚠️ today only - Get PyCharm Pro for 30% off - all the revenue goes to our Foundation. Donate on the Django website Donate on GitHub sponsors Check out how to become a Corporate Member Once you’ve done it, post with #DjangoBirthday and tag us on Mastodon / on Bluesky / on X / on LinkedIn so we can say thank you! 59% Of our US $300,000.00 goal for 2025, as of November 19th, 2025, we are at: 58.7% funded $176,098.60 donated Donate to support Django [Less]

Django 6.0 release candidate 1 is now available. It represents the final opportunity for you to try out a mosaic of modern tools and thoughtful design before Django 6.0 is released. The release candidate stage marks the string freeze and the call for ... [More] translators to submit translations. Provided no major bugs are discovered that can't be solved in the next two weeks, Django 6.0 will be released on or around December 3. Any delays will be communicated on the on the Django forum. Please use this opportunity to help find and fix bugs (which should be reported to the issue tracker), you can grab a copy of the release candidate package from our downloads page or on PyPI. The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E [Less]

For the last decade and more, we've been bundling CSS and JavaScript files. These build tools allowed us to utilize new browser capabilities in CSS and JS while still supporting older browsers. They also helped with client-side network performance ... [More] , minimizing the content to be as small as possible and combining files into one large bundle to reduce network handshakes. We've gone through a lot of build tools iterations in the process; from Grunt (2012) to Gulp (2013) to Webpack (2014) to Parcel (2017) to esbuild (2020) and Vite (2020). And with modern browser technologies there is less need for these build tools. Modern CSS supports many of the features natively that the build tools were created for. CSS nesting to organize code, variables, @supports for feature detection. JavaScript ES6 / ES2015 was a big step forward, and the language has been progressing steadily ever since. It now has native module support with the import / export keywords Meanwhile, with HTTP/2 performance improvements, parallel requests can be made over the same connection, removing the constraints of the HTTP/1.x protocol. These build processes are complex, particularly for beginners to Django. The tools and associated best practices move quickly. There is a lot to learn and you need to understand how to utilize them with your Django project. You can build a workflow that stores the build results in your static folder, but there is no core Django support for a build pipeline, so this largely requires selecting from a number of third party packages and integrating them into your project. The benefit this complexity adds is no longer as clear cut, especially for beginners. There are still advantages to build tools, but you can can create professional results without having to use or learn any build processes. Build-free JavaScript tutorial To demonstrate modern capabilities, let's expand Django’s polls tutorial with some newer JavaScript. We’ll use modern JS modules and we won’t require a build system. To give us a reason to need JS let's add a new requirement to the polls; to allow our users to add their own suggestions, instead of only being able to vote on the existing options. We update our form to have a new option under the selection code: or add your own <input type="text" name="choice_text" maxlength="200" /> Now our users can add their own options to polls if the existing ones don't fit. We can update the voting view to handle this new option. We add a new choice_text input, and if there is no vote selection we will potentially handle adding the new option, while still providing an error message if neither is supplied. We also provide an error if both are selected. def vote(request, question_id): if request.POST['choice'] and request.POST['choice_text']: return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', { 'question': question, 'error_message': "You can't vote and provide a new option.", }) question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id) try: selected_choice = question.choice_set.get(pk=request.POST['choice']) except (KeyError, Choice.DoesNotExist): if request.POST['choice_text']: selected_choice = Choice.objects.create( question=question, choice_text=request.POST['choice_text'], ) else: return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', { 'question': question, 'error_message': "You didn't select a choice or provide a new one.", }) selected_choice.votes += 1 selected_choice.save() return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('polls:results', args=(question.id,))) Now that our logic is a bit more complex it would be nicer if we had some JavaScript to do this. We can build a script that handles some of the form validation for us. function noChoices(choices, choice_text) { return ( Array.from(choices).some((radio) => radio.checked) || (choice_text[0] && choice_text[0].value.trim() !== "") ); } function allChoices(choices, choice_text) { return ( !Array.from(choices).some((radio) => radio.checked) && choice_text[0] && choice_text[0].value.trim() !== "" ); } export default function initFormValidation() { document.getElementById("polls").addEventListener("submit", function (e) { const choices = this.querySelectorAll('input[name="choice"]'); const choice_text = this.querySelectorAll('input[name="choice_text"]'); if (!noChoices(choices, choice_text)) { e.preventDefault(); alert("You didn't select a choice or provide a new one."); } if (!allChoices(choices, choice_text)) { e.preventDefault(); alert("You can't select a choice and also provide a new option."); } }); } Note how we use export default in the above code. This means form_validation.js is a JavaScript module. When we create our main.js file, we can import it with the import statement: import initFormValidation from "./form_validation.js"; initFormValidation(); Lastly, we add the script to the bottom of our details.html file, using Django’s usual static template tag. Note the type="module" this is needed to tell the browser we will be using import/export statements. <script type="module" src="{% static 'polls/js/main.js' %}">script> That’s it! We got the modularity benefits of modern JavaScript without needing any build process. The browser handles the module loading for us. And thanks to parallel requests since HTTP/2, this can scale to many modules without a performance hit. In production To deploy, all we need is Django's support for collecting static files into one place and its support for adding hashes to filenames. In production it is a good idea to use ManifestStaticFilesStorage storage backend. It stores the file names it handles by appending the MD5 hash of the file’s content to the filename. This allows you to set far future cache expiries, which is good for performance, while still guaranteeing new versions of the file will make it to users’ browsers. This backend is also able to update the reference to form_validation.js in the import statement, with its new versioned file name. Future work ManifestStaticFilesStorage works, but a lot of its implementation details get in the way. It could be easier to use as a developer. The support for import/export with hashed files is not very robust. Comments in CSS with references to files can lead to errors during collectstatic. Circular dependencies in CSS/JS can not be processed. Errors during collectstatic when files are missing are not always clear. Differences between implementation of StaticFilesStorage and ManifestStaticFilesStorage can lead to errors in production that don't show up in development (like #26329, about leading slashes). Configuring common options means subclassing the storage when we could use the existing OPTIONS dict. Collecting static files could be faster if it used parallelization (pull request: #19935 Used a threadpool to parallelise collectstatic) We discussed those possible improvements at the Django on the Med 🏖️ sprints and I’m hopeful we can make progress. I built django-manifeststaticfiles-enhanced to attempt to fix all these. The core work is to switch to a lexer for CSS and JS, based on Ned Batchelder’s JsLex that was used in Django previously. It was expanded to cover modern JS and CSS by working with Claude Code to do the grunt work of covering the syntax. It also switches to using a topological sort to find dependencies, whereas before we used a more brute force approach of repeated processing until we saw no more changes, which lead to more work, particularly on storages that used the network. It also meant we couldn't handle circular dependencies. To validate it works, I ran a performance benchmark on 50+ projects, it’s been tested issues and with similar (often improved) performance. On average, it’s about 30% faster. While those improvements would be welcome, do go ahead with trying build-free JavaScript and CSS in your Django projects today! Modern browsers make it possible to create great frontend experiences without the complexity. [Less]

Last week, we had a great time at PyCon FR 2025 - a free (!) gathering for Pythonistas in France. Here are some of our highlights. Sprints on Django, our website, IA, marketing Over two days, the conference started with 27 contributors joining us to ... [More] contribute to Django and our website and online presence. Half in the room were complete newcomers to open source, wanting to get a taste of what it’s like behind the scenes. We also had people who were new to Django, taking the excellent Django Girls tutorial to get up to speed with the project. The tutorial is translated in 20 languages(!), so it’s excellent in situations like this where people come from all over Europe. Carmen, one of our sprint contributors, took the time to test that our software for ongoing Board elections is accessible 💚 Discussing Django’s direction At the sprints, we also organized discussions on Django’s direction - specifically on marketing, Artificial Intelligence, and technical decisions. Some recurring topics were: Highlights from the State of Django 2025 report produced by JetBrains, and the need for fundraising partnerships like their ongoing 30% Off PyCharm Pro – 100% for Django campaign. What “batteries included” means for Django in 2025. Does it include REST? Contributors discussed the recent forum thread Django needs a REST story. Type hints and Django. The existing feature requests, and how feature requests are meant to work for Django. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on Django and Django developers. How AI adoption could be supported with documentation investments, but also the ethical concerns of AI coding. We had a great time during those two days of sprints ❤️ thank you to everyone involved, we hope you stick around! Design systems with JinjaX, Stimulus, and Cube CSS Mads demonstrated how to bring a design-system mindset to Django projects by combining JinjaX, Stimulus JS, and Cube CSS. Supported by modern tooling like Figma, Vite, and Storybook. JinjaX in particular, allows to take a more component-driven “lego blocks” approach to front-end development with Django. Three years of htmx in Django Céline Martinet Sanchez shared her takeaways from using htmx with Django over three years. The verdict? A joyful developer experience, some (solved) challenges with testing. Her recommended additions to make the most of the two frameworks: django-htmx: opinionated htmx integration Slippers: better DX for Django templates factory_boy: test data generator (alternative to fixtures) Syrupy: snapshots for pytest Becoming an open-source contributor in 2025 In her talk, Amanda Savluchinske explored how newcomers can get involved in open source—highlighting the Django community’s Djangonaut Space program. She explains why doing it is great, how to engage with busy maintainers, and specific actions people can take to get started. We really liked her sharing a prompt she uses with AI, to iterate on questions to maintainers before hitting “send”: “You are an expert in technical writing. I'm trying to write a message about a question I have about this open-source project I'm contributing to. Here's the link to its repo ‹Add link here›. I want to convey my question to the maintainers in a clear, concise way, at the same time that I want it to have enough context so that the communication happens with the least back and forth possible. I want this question to contain a short, max two sentence summary upfront, and then more context in the text's body. Ask me whatever questions you need about my question and context in order to produce this message.” La Suite numérique: government collaboration powered by Django PyCon FR also featured La Suite numérique, the French government’s collaborative workspace—developed with partners in Germany, the Netherlands (Mijn Bureau), and Italy. Their platform includes collaborative documents, video calls, chat, and an AI assistant — all powered by Django 🤘. This work is now part of a wider European Union initiative for sovereign digital infrastructure based on open source, for more information see: Commission to launch Digital Commons EDIC to support sovereign European digital infrastructure and technology. Up next… Up next, we have the first ever Django Day India event! And closer to France, DjangoCon Europe 2026 will take place in Athens, Greece 🇬🇷🏖️🏛️☀️ We’re elated to support events like PyCon FR 2025. To help us do more of this, take a look at this great offer from JetBrains: 30% Off PyCharm Pro – 100% for Django – All money goes to the Django Software Foundation! [Less]

Thank you to the 19 individuals who have chosen to stand for election. This page contains their candidate statements submitted as part of the 2026 DSF Board Nominations. Our deepest gratitude goes to our departing board members who are at the end of ... [More] their term and chose not to stand for re-elections: Sarah Abderemane and Thibaud Colas; thank you for your contributions and commitment to the Django community ❤️. Those eligible to vote in this election will receive information on how to vote shortly. Please check for an email with the subject line “2026 DSF Board Voting”. Voting will be open until 23:59 on November 26, 2025 Anywhere on Earth. There will be three seats open for election this year. Any questions? Reach out on our dedicated forum thread or via email to [email protected]. All candidate statements ¶ To make it simpler to review all statements, here they are as a list of links. Voters: please take a moment to read all statements before voting! It will take some effort to rank all candidates on the ballot. We believe in you. Aayush Gauba (he/him) — St. Louis, MO Adam Hill (he/him) — Alexandria, VA Andy Woods (he/they) — UK Apoorv Garg (he/him) — India, now living in Japan Ariane Djeupang (she/her) — Cameroon Arunava Samaddar (he/him) — India Chris Achinga (he/him) — Mombasa, Kenya Dinis Vasco Chilundo (he/him) — Cidade de Inhambane, Mozambique Jacob Kaplan-Moss (he/him) — Oregon, USA Julius Nana Acheampong Boakye (he/him) — Ghana Kyagulanyi Allan (he/him) — Kampala, Uganda Nicole Buque (she) — Maputo, Mozambique Nkonga Morel (he/him) — Cameroun Ntui Raoul Ntui Njock (he/his) — Buea, Cameroon Priya Pahwa (she/her) — India, Asia Quinter Apondi Ochieng (she) — Kenya-Kisumu City Rahul Lakhanpal (he/him) — Gurugram, India Ryan Cheley (he/him) — California, United States Sanyam Khurana (he/him) — Toronto, Canada Aayush Gauba (he/him) St. Louis, MO ¶ View personal statement 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. Adam Hill (he/him) Alexandria, VA ¶ View personal statement 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. Andy Woods (he/they) UK ¶ View personal statement 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. Apoorv Garg (he/him) India, now living in Japan ¶ View personal statement 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. Ariane Djeupang (she/her) Cameroon ¶ View personal statement 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. Arunava Samaddar (he/him) India ¶ View personal statement 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. Chris Achinga (he/him) Mombasa, Kenya ¶ View personal statement 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! Dinis Vasco Chilundo (he/him) Cidade de Inhambane, Mozambique ¶ View personal statement 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. Jacob Kaplan-Moss (he/him) Oregon, USA ¶ View personal statement 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. Julius Nana Acheampong Boakye (he/him) Ghana ¶ View personal statement 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 Kyagulanyi Allan (he/him) Kampala, Uganda ¶ View personal statement 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. Nicole Buque (she) Maputo, Mozambique ¶ View personal statement 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 Nkonga Morel (he/him) Cameroun ¶ View personal statement 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. Ntui Raoul Ntui Njock (he/his) Buea, Cameroon ¶ View personal statement 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. Priya Pahwa (she/her) India, Asia ¶ View personal statement 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 Quinter Apondi Ochieng (she) Kenya-Kisumu City ¶ View personal statement 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 %. Rahul Lakhanpal (he/him) Gurugram, India ¶ View personal statement 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. Ryan Cheley (he/him) California, United States ¶ View personal statement 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: Getting an Executive Director to help run the day-to-day operations of the DSF Identifying small to midsized companies for sponsorships Implementing a formal strategic planning process Setting up a fiscal sponsorship program to allow support of initiatives like Django Commons I believe these are achievable in the next 2 years. Sanyam Khurana (he/him) Toronto, Canada ¶ View personal statement 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. Your move now That’s it, you’ve read it all 🌈! Be sure to vote if you’re eligible, by using the link shared over email. To support the future of Django, donate to the Django Software Foundation on our website or via GitHub Sponsors. We also have our 30% Off PyCharm Pro – 100% for Django 💚. [Less]

Thank you to the 19 individuals who have chosen to stand for election. This page contains their candidate statements submitted as part of the 2026 DSF Board Nominations. Our deepest gratitude goes to our departing board members who are at the end of ... [More] their term and chose not to stand for re-elections: Sarah Abderemane and Thibaud Colas; thank you for your contributions and commitment to the Django community ❤️. Those eligible to vote in this election will receive information on how to vote shortly. Please check for an email with the subject line “2026 DSF Board Voting”. Voting will be open until 23:59 on November 26, 2025 Anywhere on Earth. Any questions? Reach out on our dedicated forum thread or via email to [email protected]. All candidate statements ¶ To make it simpler to review all statements, here they are as a list of links. Voters: please take a moment to read all statements before voting! It will take some effort to rank all candidates on the ballot. We believe in you. Aayush Gauba (he/him) — St. Louis, MO Adam Hill (he/him) — Alexandria, VA Andy Woods (he/they) — UK Apoorv Garg (he/him) — India, now living in Japan Ariane Djeupang (she/her) — Cameroon Arunava Samaddar (he/him) — India Chris Achinga (he/him) — Mombasa, Kenya Dinis Vasco Chilundo (he/him) — Cidade de Inhambane, Mozambique Jacob Kaplan-Moss (he/him) — Oregon, USA Julius Nana Acheampong Boakye (he/him) — Ghana Kyagulanyi Allan (he/him) — Kampala, Uganda Nicole Buque (she) — Maputo, Mozambique Nkonga Morel (he/him) — Cameroun Ntui Raoul Ntui Njock (he/his) — Buea, Cameroon Priya Pahwa (she/her) — India, Asia Quinter Apondi Ochieng (she) — Kenya-Kisumu City Rahul Lakhanpal (he/him) — Gurugram, India Ryan Cheley (he/him) — California, United States Sanyam Khurana (he/him) — Toronto, Canada Aayush Gauba (he/him) St. Louis, MO ¶ View personal statement 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. Adam Hill (he/him) Alexandria, VA ¶ View personal statement 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. Andy Woods (he/they) UK ¶ View personal statement 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. Apoorv Garg (he/him) India, now living in Japan ¶ View personal statement 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. Ariane Djeupang (she/her) Cameroon ¶ View personal statement 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. Arunava Samaddar (he/him) India ¶ View personal statement 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. Chris Achinga (he/him) Mombasa, Kenya ¶ View personal statement 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! Dinis Vasco Chilundo (he/him) Cidade de Inhambane, Mozambique ¶ View personal statement 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. Jacob Kaplan-Moss (he/him) Oregon, USA ¶ View personal statement 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. Julius Nana Acheampong Boakye (he/him) Ghana ¶ View personal statement 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 Kyagulanyi Allan (he/him) Kampala, Uganda ¶ View personal statement 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. Nicole Buque (she) Maputo, Mozambique ¶ View personal statement 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 Nkonga Morel (he/him) Cameroun ¶ View personal statement 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. Ntui Raoul Ntui Njock (he/his) Buea, Cameroon ¶ View personal statement 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. Priya Pahwa (she/her) India, Asia ¶ View personal statement 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 Quinter Apondi Ochieng (she) Kenya-Kisumu City ¶ View personal statement 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 %. Rahul Lakhanpal (he/him) Gurugram, India ¶ View personal statement 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. Ryan Cheley (he/him) California, United States ¶ View personal statement 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: Getting an Executive Director to help run the day-to-day operations of the DSF Identifying small to midsized companies for sponsorships Implementing a formal strategic planning process Setting up a fiscal sponsorship program to allow support of initiatives like Django Commons I believe these are achievable in the next 2 years. Sanyam Khurana (he/him) Toronto, Canada ¶ View personal statement 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. Your move now That’s it, you’ve read it all 🌈! Be sure to vote if you’re eligible, by using the link shared over email. To support the future of Django, donate to the Django Software Foundation on our website or via GitHub Sponsors. We also have our 30% Off PyCharm Pro – 100% for Django 💚. [Less]

In accordance with our security release policy, the Django team is issuing releases for Django 5.2.8, Django 5.1.14, and Django 4.2.26. These releases address the security issues detailed below. We encourage all users of Django to upgrade as soon as ... [More] possible. CVE-2025-64458: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in HttpResponseRedirect and HttpResponsePermanentRedirect on Windows NFKC normalization in Python is slow on Windows. As a consequence, HttpResponseRedirect, HttpResponsePermanentRedirect, and redirect were subject to a potential denial-of-service attack via certain inputs with a very large number of Unicode characters. Thanks to Seokchan Yoon (https://ch4n3.kr/) for the report. This issue has severity "moderate" according to the Django security policy. CVE-2025-64459: Potential SQL injection via _connector keyword argument in QuerySet and Q objects The methods QuerySet.filter(), QuerySet.exclude(), and QuerySet.get(), and the class Q() were subject to SQL injection when using a suitably crafted dictionary, with dictionary expansion, as the _connector argument. Thanks to cyberstan for the report. This issue has severity "high" according to the Django security policy. Affected supported versions Django main Django 6.0 (currently at beta status) Django 5.2 Django 5.1 Django 4.2 Resolution Patches to resolve the issue have been applied to Django's main, 6.0 (currently at beta status), 5.2, 5.1, and 4.2 branches. The patches may be obtained from the following changesets. CVE-2025-64458: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in HttpResponseRedirect and HttpResponsePermanentRedirect on Windows On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 5.1 branch On the 4.2 branch CVE-2025-64459: Potential SQL injection via _connector keyword argument in QuerySet and Q objects On the main branch On the 6.0 branch On the 5.2 branch On the 5.1 branch On the 4.2 branch The following releases have been issued Django 5.2.8 (download Django 5.2.8 | 5.2.8 checksums) Django 5.1.14 (download Django 5.1.14 | 5.1.14 checksums) Django 4.2.26 (download Django 4.2.26 | 4.2.26 checksums) The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E General notes regarding security reporting As always, we ask that potential security issues be reported via private email to [email protected], and not via Django's Trac instance, nor via the Django Forum. Please see our security policies for further information. [Less]

We’re excited to share that DjangoCon Europe returns in 2026 — this time in the historic and sun-soaked city of Athens, Greece 🇬🇷, with three days of talks from April 15–17, 2026! Photo by Rafael Hoyos Weht on Unsplash DjangoCon Europe is one of the ... [More] longest-running Django events worldwide, now in its 18th edition - and 15th country! What’s on the agenda We’re preparing a mix of Django and Python talks, hands-on workshops, and opportunities to collaborate, learn, and celebrate our community. Whether you're new to Django or a long-time Djangonaut, DjangoCon Europe is designed to help you build new skills and connect with others who care about open-source software. Athens provides the perfect backdrop — a lively, accessible city full of culture 🏛️, great food 😊, and spring sunshine ☀️. Join us in Athens DjangoCon Europe thrives because people across our community take part. As the organizers prepare the programe, there will be many ways to get involved: Attend the conference in person in Athens Submit a talk or workshop proposal (stay tuned for our Call for Proposals announcement) Sponsor the conference and support the Django ecosystem Volunteer your time to help the event run smoothly Stay updated We’ll share details on proposals, tickets, sponsorship packages, and sprints in the coming weeks, via our newsletter on the conference website. Sign up for updates We are also on: Twitter/X: @DjangoConEurope on Twitter/X LinkedIn: DjangoCon Europe Mastodon: @[email protected] [Less]

We’re excited to share that DjangoCon Europe returns in 2026 — this time in the historic and sun-soaked city of Athens, Greece 🇬🇷, with three days of talks from April 15–17 followed by two days of sprints over the weekend! Photo by Rafael Hoyos Weht ... [More] on Unsplash DjangoCon Europe is one of the longest-running Django events worldwide, now in its 18th edition - and 15th country! What’s on the agenda We’re preparing a mix of Django and Python talks, hands-on workshops, and opportunities to collaborate, learn, and celebrate our community. Whether you're new to Django or a long-time Djangonaut, DjangoCon Europe is designed to help you build new skills and connect with others who care about open-source software. Athens provides the perfect backdrop — a lively, accessible city full of culture 🏛️, great food 😊, and spring sunshine ☀️. Join us in Athens DjangoCon Europe thrives because people across our community take part. As the organizers prepare the programe, there will be many ways to get involved: Attend the conference in person in Athens Submit a talk or workshop proposal (stay tuned for our Call for Proposals announcement) Sponsor the conference and support the Django ecosystem Volunteer your time to help the event run smoothly Stay updated We’ll share details on proposals, tickets, sponsorship packages, and sprints in the coming weeks, via our newsletter on the conference website. Sign up for updates We are also on: Twitter/X: @DjangoConEurope on Twitter/X LinkedIn: DjangoCon Europe Mastodon: @[email protected] [Less]

With tens of thousands of available add-ons, it can be hard to discover which packages might be helpful for your projects. But there are a lot of options available to navigate this ecosystem – here are a few. New ✨ Ecosystem page Our new Django’s ... [More] ecosystem page showcases third-party apps and add-ons recommended by the Django Steering Council. State of Django The 2025 State of Django survey is out, and we get to see how people who responded to the survey are ranking packages! Here are their answers to “What are your top five favorite third-party Django packages?” Responses Package 49% djangorestframework 27% django-debug-toolbar 26% django-celery 19% django-cors-headers 18% django-filter 18% django-allauth 15% pytest-django 15% django-redis 14% django-extensions 14% django-crispyforms 13% djangorestframework-simplejwt 12% django-channels 12% django-storages 12% django-environ 11% django-celery-beat 10% django-ninja 10% None / I’m not sure 7% django-import-export 7% Wagtail 6% dj-database-url 5% django-silk 5% django-cookiecutter 5% dj-rest-auth 5% django-models-utils 4% django-taggit 4% django-rest-swagger 3% django-polymorphic 3% django-configurations 3% django-compressor 3% django-multitenant 3% pylint-django 2% django-braces 2% model-bakery 2% Djoser 1% django-money 1% dj-rest-knox 8% Other Thank you to JetBrains who created this State of Django survey with the Django Software Foundation! They are currently running a bit promotion campaign - Until November 11, 2025, get PyCharm for 30% off. All money goes to the Django Software Foundation! Django Packages Django Packages is a directory of reusable Django apps, tools, and frameworks, categorized and ranked by popularity. It has thousands of options that are easily comparable with category "grids". Awesome Django Awesome Django is more of a community-maintained curated list of Django resources and packages. It’s frequently updated, currently with 198 different package entries. Reddit and newsletters The r/django subreddit often covers new tools and packages developers are experimenting with. And here are newsletters that often highlight new packages or “hidden gems” in Django’s ecosystem: Django News - Weekly Django news, articles, projects, and more. Real Python (Newsletter and podcast) [Less]