Meet Christopher Neugebauer

Welcome to our “People from PSF” interview series! This series introduces the individuals behind the Python Software Foundation, exploring their unique journeys, community contributions, and insights. Today, we are excited to feature Christopher Neugebauer, Vice Chair of the PSF Board of Directors and Senior Tech Lead at Maribel Health.

Let’s get to know Chris better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself? (Your background, hobbies, education, etc.)

I’m originally from Australia, but these days I live in the United States, in Petaluma, a small city about a 60-minute drive north of San Francisco. I live with my partner, Robin, and our two cats (Pico and Astra).

Education-wise, I have a Bachelor of Science from the University of Tasmania: they didn’t teach Python there, but my final year research project was enabled by Python: being able to do image manipulation with PIL and data visualisation with Matplotlib was a superpower that let me go further with my Computer Vision research than I would have without Python.

In terms of hobbies: I enjoy cooking and other culinary things at home; improving the place where we live; and of course, there’s North Bay Python, the small conference I run here in Petaluma.

How did you first get involved with the Python community?

During University, I spent a lot of time hanging out with organisers in the Australian Python Community, and eventually I accidentally found myself running PyCon Australia (2012, and 2013). After that, I spend a lot of time working on governance in the Australian Open Source Community, and I made trips to PyCon US every year to see how to do things properly.

When I moved to the US, I realised the Python community is where I wanted to spend my time!

What personal or professional projects are you currently focused on?

North Bay Python is my main personal project. It’s a small, community-focused one-track conference that I lead here in Petaluma. It always takes more time than I expect!

What PSF activities are you involved in, and which working groups are you contributing to?

I’m on the Board’s executive committee, which is always a lot of work. I try to give our board a long-term perspective (I’ve been on the board for 7 years now!) and help contextualise older decisions.

Other than that, I’m on the PyCon US committee, making sure that the PSF’s flagship event serves the community well, and also the Grants Working Group, where we help share the PSF’s resources with important projects in our community.

What advice would you give someone considering running for the PSF Board of Directors?

Understand what the board does: we don’t directly do a lot of volunteer work; instead, we help enable our staff to do more for the community. This often means making strategic decisions instead of directly doing the work itself. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different!

If you’re unsure how to get started, I highly recommend joining the PSF’s Office Hours to learn more about ongoing initiatives, working groups, and ways to get involved. There are many opportunities to contribute beyond running for the board!

📌 Connect with Christopher:
🔗 GitHub: github.com/chrisjrn
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisjrn/