Matt Lebrun and Micaela Reyes Receive PSF Community Service Awards

Not every award in the Python ecosystem gets the same attention. Fellowships tend to dominate the headlines. But the Community Service Award (CSA) is, in many ways, the one that runs closest to the ground. It is the PSF Board's formal recognition of sustained volunteer work that keeps local communities alive: the meetups that happen every month, the conferences that somehow get organised on zero budget, the volunteers who are trained and then train others.

"The PSF Community Service Awards are a formal way for the PSF Board of Directors to offer recognition of work which, in its opinion, significantly improves the Foundation's fulfillment of its mission and benefits the broader Python community."

That is the standard. The award carries a cash grant, free PyCon US registration for life, and eligibility for travel support. But the real value is the signal it sends: this work is seen, and it matters.

Who Got It

In Q1 2025, the PSF Board awarded the Community Service Award to two people from the Philippines:

• Matt Lebrun — co-founder of Python Philippines (PythonPH)
• Micaela Reyes — co-founder of Python Philippines (PythonPH)

I have to apologize for publishing this late. I was waiting for the time where I can have a picture of Matt and Micaela receiving their awards.

The official citation reads: "for building, growing and sustaining the Python community in the Philippines, including conferences, meetups, and volunteer training programs."

That sentence covers well over a decade of work. Matt and Micaela did not just organise PyCon Philippines. They built the scaffold: the meetup infrastructure, the volunteer pipelines, the relationships with venues and sponsors, the onboarding of new organisers who then went on to lead their own events. PythonPH is one of the most active and resilient communities in Southeast Asia, and that did not happen by accident. It happened because two people decided to keep showing up, and then taught other people how to show up too.

Why This Matters Beyond the Philippines

Here is the part I want you to sit with.

East, South, and Southeast Asia together account for roughly 4% of all PSF Fellows and 2% of Community Service Award recipients, against a developer population that is dramatically larger than that share. The Philippines alone has a thriving Python community, a growing tech sector, and a long history of PyCon events and collaborating with the rest of us. And yet Matt and Micaela are among the very few from the region to receive this particular recognition.

This is not a complaint. It is a measurement. As I argued in my PyCon SG 2025 keynote, the gap is not a diversity problem in the abstract. It is an opportunity problem. The PSF, the PyLadies Global Council, and the international conference committees mostly do not know your local heroes because nobody submitted their names. The committees are not gatekeeping. They are simply working with the inboxes they have.

Matt and Micaela broke through that barrier. Their award is not just a personal honour. It is proof that the mechanism works if you use it.

What I Want You To Do Next

First, congratulate them. If you know Matt or Micaela, send them a message. If you only know their work from a distance, say so publicly. Peer recognition makes institutional recognition land harder.

Second, write down one name. Think of someone in your local Python community who has been doing the quiet work for years. The meetup organiser. The person who maintains the mailing list. The volunteer who arrives early to set up chairs and stays late to pack up. Write their name down.

Third, nominate them. The PSF accepts CSA nominations at any time by email to psf@python.org. There is no deadline. There is no fee. The committee asks for evidence, not poetry: specific events, specific contributions, specific years. If you need help drafting the nomination, get in touch with PAO. We have done this before and we will do it with you.

Final Note

Congratulations, Matt and Micaela. The work you did in the Philippines created a template that other communities in the region are still learning from. The award is deserved. Now the rest of us need to make sure you are not the last.