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For December 2025, we welcome Clifford Gama as our DSF member of the month! ⭐ Clifford contributed to Django core with more than 5 PRs merged in few months! He is part of the Triage and Review Team. He has been a DSF member since October 2024. You can learn more about Clifford by visiting and . Let’s spend some time getting to know Clifford better!

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

I'm Clifford. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe.

How did you start using Django?

During my first year in college, I was also exploring open online courses on EDx and I came across CS50's introduction to web development. After watching the introductory lecture -- which introduced me to git and GitHub -- I discovered Django's excellent documentation and got started on the polls tutorial. The docs were so comprehensive and helpful I never felt the need to return to CS50. (I generally prefer comprehensive first-hand, written learning material over summaries and videos.) At the time, I had already experimented with flask, but I guess mainly because I didn't know SQL and because flask didn't have an ORM, I never quite picked it up. With Django I felt like I was taking a learning fast-track where I'd learn everything I needed in one go! And that's how I started using Django.

What projects are you working on now?

At the moment, I’ve been focusing on improving my core skills in preparation for remote work, so I haven’t been starting new projects because of that. That said, I’ve been working on a client project involving generating large, image-heavy PDFs with WeasyPrint, where I’ve been investigating performance bottlenecks and ways to speed up generation time, which was previously around 30 minutes 😱.

What are you learning about these days?

I’ve been reading Boost Your Git DX by Adam Johnson and learning how to boost my Git and shell developer experience, which has been a great read. Aside from that, inspired by some blogs and talks by Haki Benita, I am also learning about software design and performance. Additionally, I am working on improving my general fluency in Python.

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

I am not familiar with any other frameworks, but if I had magic powers I'd add production-grade static-file serving in Django.

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

The ORM, Wagtail and Django's admin.

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

• The community
• The documentation
• Djangonaut Space and the way new contributors are welcomed

How did you start contributing to Django?

I started contributing to Django in August last year, which is when I discovered the community, which was a real game changer for me. Python was my first course at university, and I loved it because it was creative and there was no limit to what I could build with it. Whenever I saw a problem in another course that could be solved programmatically, I jumped at it. My proudest project from that time was building an NxN matrix determinant calculator after learning about recursion and spotting the opportunity in an algebra class. After COVID lockdown, I gave programming up for a while. With more time on my hands, I found myself prioritizing programming over core courses, so I took a break. Last year, I returned to it when I faced a problem that I could only solve with Django. My goal was simply to build an app quickly and go back to being a non-programmer, but along the way I thought I found a bug in Django, filed a ticket, and ended up writing a documentation PR. That’s when I really discovered the Django community. What attracted me most was that contributions are held to high standards, but experienced developers are always ready to help you reach them. Contributing was collaborative, pushing everyone to do their best. It was a learning opportunity too good to pass up.

How did you join the Triage and Review team?

About the time after I contributed my first PR, I started looking at open tickets to find more to work on, and keep on learning. Sometimes a ticket was awaiting triage, in which case the first step was to triage it before assigning it to working on it, and sometimes the ticket I wanted was already taken, in which case I'd look at the PR if available. Reviewing a PR can be a faster way to learn about a particular part of the codebase, because someone has already done most of the investigative part of work, so I reviewed PRs as well. After a while I got an invitation from Sarah Boyce, one of the fellows, to join the team. I didn't even know that I could join before I got the invitation, so I was thrilled!

How the work is going so far?

It’s been rewarding. I’ve gained familiarity with the Django codebase and real experience collaborating with others, which already exceeds what I expected when I started contributing. One unexpected highlight was forming a friendship through one of the first PRs I reviewed. SiHyun Lee and I are now both part of the triage and review team, and I’m grateful for that connection.

What are your hobbies or what do you do when you’re not working?

My main hobby is storytelling in a broad sense. In fact, it was a key reason I returned to programming after a long break. I enjoy discovering enduring stories from different cultures, times, and media—ranging from the deeply personal and literary to the distant and philosophical. I recently watched two Japanese classics and found I quite love them. I on my blog, and I also get to practice my Japanese, which I’ve been learning on Duolingo for about two years. I also enjoy playing speed chess.

Do you have any suggestions for people who would like to start triage and review tickets and PRs?

If there’s an issue you care about, or one that touches a part of the codebase you’re familiar with or curious about, jump in. Tickets aren’t always available to work on, but reviews always are, and they’re open to everyone. Reviewing helps PRs move faster, including your own if you have any open, sharpens your understanding of a component, and often clarifies the problem itself. As Simon Charette :

“Triaging issues and spending time understanding them is often more valuable than landing code itself as it strengthen our common understanding of the problem and allow us to build a consistent experience accross the diverse interfaces Django provides.”

And you can put it on your CV!

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I’m grateful to everyone who contributes to making every part of Django what it is. I’m particularly thankful to whoever nominated me to be the DSF Member of the month. I am optimistic about the future of Django. Django 6.1 is already shaping up with new features, and there are new projects like Django Bolt coming up. Happy new year 🎊!

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Thank you for doing the interview, Clifford and happy new year to the Django community 💚!

As we wrap up another strong year for the Django community, we wanted to share an update and a thank you. This year, we raised our fundraising goal from $200,000 to $300,000, and we are excited to say we are now over 88% of the way there. That puts us firmly in the home stretch, and a little more support will help us close the gap and reach 100%. So why the higher goal this year? We expanded the Django Fellows program to include a third Fellow. In August, we welcomed . That extra capacity gives the team more flexibility and resilience, whether someone is taking parental leave, time off around holidays, or stepping away briefly for other reasons. It also makes it easier for Fellows to attend more Django events and stay connected with the community, all while keeping the project running smoothly without putting too much pressure on any one person. We are also preparing to raise funds for an executive director role early next year. That work is coming soon, but right now, the priority is finishing this year strong. We want to say a sincere thank you to our existing sponsors and to everyone who has donated so far. Your support directly funds stable Django releases, security work, community programs, and the long-term health of the framework. If you or your organization have end-of-year matching funds or a giving program, this is a great moment to put them to use and help push us past the finish line. If you would like to help us reach that final stretch, you can find all the details on Other ways to support Django:

• : If your employer participates, you can make donations to the DSF via payroll deduction.
• : Support Django directly through GitHub's sponsorship platform.
• : Buy official t-shirts, accessories, and more to support Django.

Thank you for helping support Django and the people who make it possible. We are incredibly grateful for this community and everything you do to keep Django strong.

Thank You to Our Outgoing Directors

We extend our gratitude to Thibaud Colas and Sarah Abderemane, who are completing their terms on the board. Their contributions shaped the foundation in meaningful ways, and the following highlights only scratch the surface of their work. Thibaud served as President in 2025 and Secretary in 2024. He was instrumental in governance improvements, the Django CNA initiative, election administration, and creating our . He also led our birthday campaign and helped with the creation of several new working groups this year. His thoughtful leadership helped the board navigate complex decisions. Sarah served as Vice President in 2025 and contributed significantly to our outreach efforts, working group coordination, and membership management. She also served as a point of contact for the Django CNA initiative alongside Thibaud. Both Thibaud and Sarah did too many things to list here. They were amazing ambassadors for the DSF, representing the board at many conferences and events. They will be deeply missed, and we are happy to have their continued membership and guidance in our many working groups. On behalf of the board, thank you both for your commitment to Django and the DSF. The community is better for your service.

Thank You to Our 2025 Officers

Thank you to Tom Carrick and Jacob Kaplan-Moss for their service as officers in 2025. Tom served as Secretary, keeping our meetings organized and our records in order. Jacob served as Treasurer, providing careful stewardship of the foundation's finances. Their dedication helped guide the DSF through another successful year.

Welcome to Our Newly Elected Directors

We welcome Priya Pahwa and Ryan Cheley to the board, and congratulate Jacob Kaplan-Moss on his re-election.

The board unanimously elected our officers for 2026:

• President: Jeff Triplett
• Vice President: Abigail Gbadago
• Treasurer: Ryan Cheley
• Secretary: Priya Pahwa
• Jacob Kaplan-Moss
• Paolo Melchiorre
• Tom Carrick

I'm honored to serve as President for 2026. The DSF has important work ahead, and I'm looking forward to building on the foundation that previous boards have established. Our monthly board meeting minutes may be found at , and . If you have a great idea for the upcoming year or feel something needs our attention, please reach out to us via our page. We're always open to hearing from you.

The received 4 reports and met 12 times in 2025. This transparency report is a brief account of how those reports were handled. This year’s number is lower than previous years in part because of the formation of the which handles moderation on our official spaces and has been able to act directly on smaller scale infractions. In some cases we received additional reporting while investigating initial reports, but have not counted those as separate instances. This working group conducts business in several ways. It has online meetings, typically once per month. It also discusses issues in a Slack channel, but most cases are handled in the meetings. The group welcomed three new members this year: Ariane Djeupang, Natalia Bidart, and Priya Pahwa. Natalia was selected by the new Online Communities Working Group as their liaison to the Code of Conduct Working group; Ariane and Priya were elected by the working group. The group also saw Jay Miller step down this year. We all want to thank Jay for his continued role in our community and for all the work he did with the Code of Conduct group. It was the group’s intention to work with a consultant to update our Code of Conduct and processes. We reached out to two consultants to help with that work, but unfortunately we weren’t able to engage either to get that work completed. We hope to progress with that in 2026. In the meantime, we made a few internal process tweaks - creating up a new “ask CoC” channel with key stakeholders to discuss moderation and CoC enforcement, and having our team set up as moderators in GitHub until we find a better model. Two reports from late 2024 carried into this year. Two reports resulted in suspensions from the relevant platforms. Another was shared with local event organizers.

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Finally, this section provides a brief summary of the kinds of cases that were handled:

• One case involved repeated violations of the Discourse rules about self promotion. The working group recommended a suspension from the forum.
• One case involved repeated behavior across several platforms that discouraged participation and created problems for others. The working group recommended a suspension from all relevant platforms and working groups.
• One case involved an incident at a PSF-sponsored event. The information was passed on to the local organizers.