List of EPS Board Candidates for 2024/2025

At this year’s EuroPython Society General Assembly (GA), planned for Sunday, December 1st, 2024, 20:00 CET, we will vote in a new board of the EuroPython Society for the term 2024/2025

List of Board Candidates

The EPS bylaws require one chair, one vice chair and 2 - 7 board members. The following candidates have stated their willingness to work on the EPS board. We are presenting them here (in alphabetical order by first name).

We will be updating this list in the days before the GA. Please send in any nominations or self-nominations to board@europython.eu. For more information please check our previous post here: https://europython-society.org/2024-general-assembly-announcement/

Please note that our bylaws do not restrict nominations to people on this list. It is even possible to self-nominate or nominate other candidates at the GA itself. However, in the interest of giving members a better chance to review the candidate list, we’d like to encourage all nominations to be made before the GA.

The following fine folks have expressed their desire to run for the next EPS board elections: Anders Hammarquist, Aris Nivorils, Artur Czepiel, Cyril Bitterich, Mia Bajić, Shekhar Koirala.

Anders Hammarquist

Pythonista / Consultant / Software architect

Anders is running his own Python consultancy business, AB Struse, since 2019 and is currently mostly involved with using Python in industrial automation. He has been using Python since 1995, and fosters its use in at least four companies.

He helped organize EuroPython 2004 and 2005, and has attended and given talks at several EuroPythons since then. He has handled the Swedish financials of the EuroPython Society since 2016 and has served as board member since 2017.

Aris Nivorlis

Pythonista / Geoscientist / Data Steward

Aris is a researcher at Deltares, a non-profit research institute in the Netherlands, where he combines his expertise in geoscience with his passion for Python and data stewardship to address real-world challenges. His journey with Python started during his doctoral studies, where he became a passionate advocate for the language and supported several colleagues in adopting Python for their research.

Aris has been involved in the Python community for the past four years. He is the Chair of PyCon Sweden and has been a core organizer for the past three conferences. He was a EuroPython organizer in 2024, leading the Ops Team, an experience he describes as both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Aris is running for the EuroPython Society (EPS) Board to work in shaping its future direction. He is particularly interested on how EPS can further support local Python communities, events, and projects, while ensuring the success of the EuroPython conference. Aris aims to build on the foundation of previous efforts, working toward a more independent and sustainable organisation team for EuroPython. One of his key goals is to lower the barriers for others to get involved as volunteers, organizers, and board members, fostering a more inclusive and accessible society.

Artur Czepiel (nomination for Chair)

Software developer

I started using Python in 2008 and attended my first EuroPython in 2016, and it’s been an incredible journey ever since. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to five EuroPython conferences, including serving four terms on the board and chairing the conference last year.

Despite that, I still have new ideas for improvements and a couple of unfinished projects I’d like to see moving forward. :)

Cyril Bitterich

Operations dude / Organiser / Systems Engineer

Cyril’s first contact with the EuroPython community was back in 2019 in Basel during a break between workshops. Starting with helping prepare goodie bags, he went on to assist with setting up the conference location, and took on the role of a general runner during the event. After becoming a late addition to the Ops team in Dublin, he was part of the Ops and Programme teams for both Prague editions of the conference. His firefighting skills proved invaluable as he supported other teams and the general organisation, making him a de facto member of the 2024 core organisers team.

Enjoying the warmth of the community and gaining experience in a lot of different roles, it's now time for him to pass on the lessons he’s learned in a more structured way.  Having taken on smaller and ad-hoc leadership roles during the conference, he now aims to play an even more active role in the year-to-year operations of the EuroPython community.

With a background in successfully playing firefighter at organising capoeira events for 100 to 2000 attendees at locations all over the world (Asia and Antarctica are still on the to-do list 😉), and working with leaders, teams and attendees from diverse cultures, his knowledge and experience extend far beyond the last 3 years of EuroPython conference.

His goal is to bring more structure to the EPS as a whole and the conference teams where needed. A key focus is ensuring effective communication, be it through improving documentation or maintaining open and regular dialogue with the teams and everyone else involved Ultimately, he aims to help strike a healthy balance between the community-driven, volunteer spirit with the  professionalism expected from an established conference like EuroPython. However, the aim is not to disrupt or rebuild everything from scratch. Instead, he seeks to build on the strong foundation established by the board members active in the last years - while shamelessly taking full advantage of their counsel along the way.

This should establish a stable foundation within the EuroPython Society that can be adopted or directly used by other local communities in Europe. On the EPS side, this will hopefully open up resources to support other communities based on their specific needs.

Mia Bajić

Software Engineer & Community Events Organizer

I’m a software engineer and community events organizer. Since joining the Python community in 2021, I’ve led Pyvo meetups, brought Python Pizza to the Czech Republic, and contributed to PyCon CZ 23 as well as EuroPython 2023 & 2024. I've spoken on technical topics at major conferences, including PyCon US, DjangoCon, EuroPython and many other PyCons across Europe.

I’m running for the board to learn, grow, and give back to the community that has given me so much. The main topic I would like to focus on is sustainability. I value setting clear goals, fostering open and transparent culture, and delivering measurable results.

Inspired by the folks from the Django Software Foundation, I decided to share more about my background, motivations, and small improvements I’d like to see implemented this year on my blog: https://clytaemnestra.github.io/tech-blog/eps-elections.

Shekhar Koirala

Machine Learning Engineer

I joined EuroPython as a remote volunteer in 2022 and later became part of the onsite volunteer team in Dublin the same year. Over the past two years, I’ve worked with the Ops team, supporting other onsite volunteers. My volunteering experience also includes contributions to Python Ireland and PyData Kathmandu. This year, I attended PyData Amsterdam, PyCon Sweden, and a non-Python volunteer-led conference in Berlin, Germany, where I sought to understand what truly makes a conference great. I realized that, at the core, it’s the people and their love for the community that make a conference exceptional.

Whether or not I join the board, I will continue volunteering for EuroPython. But if I am selected as a board member, I aim to support volunteers and foster a wholesome environment, just as I have always experienced. I also want to strengthen the connection between EuroPython and the local community.

Professionally, I work as a Machine Learning Engineer at Identv, using Python for both work and hobbies. Recently, I delivered a talk and conducted a workshop at PyCon Ireland, and I’m excited to kickstart my open-source journey. Beside sitting in front of the computer, I love to hike, take photos and try not to get lost in the wild.

What does the EPS Board do ?

The EPS board is made up of up to 9 directors (including 1 chair and 1 vice chair); the board runs the day-to-day business of the EuroPython Society, including running the EuroPython conference series, and supports the community through various initiatives such as our grants programme. The board collectively takes up the fiscal and legal responsibility of the Society.

For more details you can check our previous post here: https://europython-society.org/2024-general-assembly-announcement/#what-does-the-board-do