pyOpenSci Celebrates Inessa
Today, I want to take a moment to celebrate a devoted pyOpenSci community member, colleague, and friend, Inessa, who was just awarded the NumFOCUS Community Leadership award. In my opinion, no one is more deserving of recognition for their contributions and dedication to the open source community. Inessa’s day job is devoted to open source, where she serves as the Open Source Program Manager at Open Teams. But her open source work extends far beyond her professional role!
“Inessa Pawson receives the NumFOCUS Community Leadership Award 2024. Inessa, a pyOpenSci advisory committee member, is celebrated for her impact in the scientific Python community, including co-organizing the SciPy and PyCon US maintainers summit, serving as a NumPy maintainer, and leading contributor experience projects.”
I have tremendous admiration for Inessa’s commitment to supporting the open source community, particularly in the scientific Python ecosystem. Her efforts reach far beyond pyOpenSci, impacting the broader open science and Python landscapes.
Inessa’s NumFOCUS contributions
Inessa’s involvement with NumFOCUS is especially noteworthy. Since 2023, she has championed the NumFOCUS Code of Conduct (CoC) reform and founded the NumFOCUS CoC Working Group. In addition, she has organized the NumFOCUS Project Summit for the past two years (2023 and 2024).
Since 2020, she has been an organizer for the annual SciPy meeting, contributing to the Mentorship Program, Maintainers Track, and Tutorials. She also developed and ran the Teen Track!
Inessa is also a core contributor to the scientific Python community. Her journey began when she received the 2019 NumPy New Contributor Award, and since then, she has made substantial to both the NumPy and SciPy projects including:
- NumPy Steering Council member and active contributor since 2019
- NumPy Contributor Experience Lead (2021-2023)
- Co-lead of the scikit-learn survey team since April 2024
She has also served on the Scientific Python Project SPEC Steering Committee since 2023.
In addition to her technical contributions, Inessa has played a key role in community-building efforts. Beyond SciPy, she has:
- Co-founded and co-led the CHAOSS Scientific Research Open Source Software Working Group since 2023
- Organized the PyCon US Maintainers Summit since 2020
- Founded and organized PyLadies South Florida since 2019
Inessa cares about DEIA - deeply
Inessa’s leadership and passion for fostering inclusive, supportive communities also extend to her role on the pyOpenSci Advisory Council. She has always been there to talk through challenges as pyOpenSci has grown over the years. I see her as a key advisor behind pyOpenSci’s success.
Inessa is also a devoted mom
On top of all these accomplishments, Inessa is a dedicated mother to two wonderful, bright children who you may have run into at a PyCon or SciPy meeting! And, on a personal note, Inessa is also a wonderful friend and an incredible human being. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of recognition.
Her wide-ranging contributions make her a true leader in the open source community. I’m so happy to be able to take a moment to celebrate her impact.
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