Meet the NumFOCUS Team
Board of Directors
Rosie Pongracz
Rosie Pongracz joins the board after three years as a member of the NumFOCUS Advisory Council representing IBM. She is an Engineer by training, builder by practice, and has expertise in full-stack technical marketing and sales. She obtained her degree from Carnegie Mellon in Electrical/Biomedical Engineering.
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Logan Kilpatrick
Logan currently leads advocacy at PathAI, a Boston based company using machine learning to improve cancer patient outcomes. Logan received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University with a focus on Computer Science and is now a dual graduate student at Northwestern University’s School of Law and Harvard University.
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Lawrence Wilson Gray
Dr. Gray is the Head of Data Science at KPMG Spark, where he builds predictive products with machine learning and Python that are reinventing how Bookkeepers work.
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Andy Terrel
Andy Terrel received his PhD in computer science at the University of Chicago in 2010. His major emphasis of research has been on the automation of numerical methods on high performance computing resources.
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Dr. Julie Hollek
Dr. Julie Hollek has been a long-time user and champion of Scientific Python and the ecosystem. She is the co-chair of the SciPy Conference and has volunteered with the conference for 10 years. She previously served on NumFOCUS’ Diversity & Inclusion in Scientific Computing (DISC) committee.
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Mridul Seth
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Technical Steering Committee
Tetsuo Koyama
A software engineer based in Japan, Tetsuo Koyama has a strong interest in scientific computing and visualization using computer graphics. As one of the primary developers of the PyVista project, he is deeply engaged in advancing open-source tools and technologies. His passion for open-source conference management and community support is reflected in his roles on the SciPy Conference management staff and as a volunteer for the NumFOCUS Election Committee.
Juan Nunez-Iglesias
Jacob Schreiber
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Eloisa Elias
Eloisa Elias is a passionate advocate for open-source software and its potential to advance humanity by making powerful tools accessible to everyone, regardless of their background. A data scientist and community leader, she has built and led six inclusive data science communities with over 9,500 members, including PyData Seattle, PyLadies Seattle, and Seattle Spark + AI.
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Sanket Verma
Sanket Verma has been an integral part of the NumFOCUS and PyData community for over eight years, championing the growth of PyData culture across India. As the leader of PyData Delhi, he organized India’s first PyData conference in 2017, which catalyzed the formation of numerous PyData chapters across the country.
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Wolf Vollprecht
Wolf Vollprecht has been deeply engaged in open-source projects, driven by a passion for scientific curiosity and the belief in the transformative impact of open source, open science, and open knowledge. Committed to maximizing the efficiency and impact of open-source funding, Wolf has contributed significantly to the NumFOCUS community by establishing the PackagingCon conference and serving as a core member of conda-forge for the past four years.
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Sophia Yang
Sophia Yang is the Head of Developer Relations at Mistral AI, where she oversees developer education, ecosystem partnerships, and community engagement. A passionate advocate for the open-source Python and AI community, Sophia has contributed to numerous open-source projects and frequently speaks at events promoting open-source initiatives.
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NumFOCUS Staff
Leah Silen
leah@numfocus.org
Leah Silen has been with NumFOCUS from its beginning, working with the founding board members to write the application for NumFOCUS’s nonprofit status. Before joining NumFOCUS, she worked in the nonprofit sector as a Public Relations and Program Director with a focus on community relations and fundraising. Leah has also volunteered and sat on several boards of nonprofit organizations.
Lynn Brubaker
lynn@numfocus.org
Lynn Brubaker graduated with a Bachelor of Science Business Administration. Before joining NumFOCUS, she worked at a hedge fund as an Office Manager.
Jim Weiss
jim@numfocus.org
Jim Weiss joined NumFOCUS in 2017, bringing over seven years of event management experience to the organization. Prior to joining NumFOCUS, Jim worked in Washington, D.C., coordinating congressional hearings for the U.S. House of Representatives and managing events for the U.S. Air Force. Jim hails from Pennsylvania and graduated from Lafayette College.
Tomara Youngblood
tomara@numfocus.org
Tomara joined NumFOCUS in 2022 as the Events Manager. Before joining NumFOCUS, she worked in municipal and non-profit recreation and event management for over 17 years. Tomara is a graduate of the University of North Texas.
Patricia Rameau
patricia@numfocus.org
Patricia Rameau is an Events Manager at NumFOCUS. With seven years of experience in higher education, she excels at building relationships, fostering alumni engagement, and spearheading fundraising initiatives. Patricia has managed six alumni chapters across the globe and successfully hosted over 100 events. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, binge-watching thriller movies, and spending quality time with family and friends. Known for her friendly and creative approach, Patricia brings enthusiasm and expertise to every event she undertakes.
Arliss Collins
arliss@numfocus.org
Arliss Collins joined NumFOCUS in 2020 as the Open Source Developer Advocate. Before joining NumFOCUS she worked as the Data & Metrics Analyst for the Mozilla Foundation as well as the Participation Coordinator for the Mozilla Science Lab. She brings with her experience in open source advocacy, data science and community engagement. Arliss has a degree in Engineering from Queen’s University, Canada
Kari Hall
kari@numfocus.org
Kamila Stepniowska
Kamila@numfocus.org
Kamila joined NumFOCUS in 2023 as the Advocacy Program Lead. She has more than decade experience in tech, as entrepreneur, educational programs manager and community builder in Europe and the US. Kamila specialised in AI. In previous years she has been creating B2B, machine learning education programs with deepsense.ai, supporting diversity as COO at Geek Girls Carrots, the Women Who Code Seattle Evangelist, Advisor at She’s Coding, SheWorx Steering Committee members. She brings her experience in community building and sociology.
Nicole Foster
nicole@numfocus.org
Nicole joined NumFOCUS in 2019 as Executive Operations Administrator. Before joining NumFOCUS she worked as an Executive Coordinator and an Administrative Manager. Nicole has a variety of experience, including client services, vendor management, project management, accounting, and legal compliance.
Claudia Alverado
claudia@numfocus.org
Addo Davies
addo@numfocus.org
MK
mk@numfocus.org
MK joined NumFOCUS in July 2024 as the Project Resource Mobilization Lead. With eight years of experience in business development, proposal management, social impact, and nonprofit organizational capacity building, he is excited to contribute to the growing NumFOCUS fundraising team. In addition to his role at NumFOCUS, MK is a certified fitness coach, teaching group fitness in the Washington, DC metro area. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Sam Houston State University and an M.A. in Sustainable Development, International Policy, and Management from the SIT Graduate Institute.
Miriam Mueller
miriam@numfocus.org
Miriam Mueller joined NumFocus in June 2023 as the Finance Director. Miriam is a 25+ year veteran of nonprofit work, and has worked in nonprofit finance, operations, fundraising, and technology. They are joining NumFocus after two years as a finance and operations director and a decade of owning an accounting firm where they worked with nonprofits and entrepreneurs of all types. Miriam holds a Masters Degree in Medieval History from Columbia University in New York.
Chervonne Rogers
chervonne@numfocus.org
Chervonne Rogers joined NumFOCUS in November 2023 as the Bookkeeper. Chervonne has 20+ years of experience in the accounting field and has worked in different fields within operations, finance and accounting in several industries. Chervonne has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Regent University in VA and 15+ years of experience directly in bookkeeping. As much as she loves to work, she also loves being a sports mom and a fur-baby mom.
Savannah Simons
savannah@numfocus.org
Prior to joining NumFOCUS in October 2022, Savannah managed multiple clients for a bookkeeping firm. Savannah has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Eastern Oregon University along with multiple years of bookkeeping experience. Savannah enjoys working with numbers and in her spare she likes to spend time with her dogs.
Zaria Gibson
zaria@numfocus.org
Kelby Lorenz
kelby@numfocus.org
Kelby joined NumFOCUS in 2023 as the Digital Marketing Specialist. With nearly a decade of experience behind him in marketing, advertising, PR, and user experience, he is excited to be a part of the NumFOCUS team! In addition to his work here, he also supports his community theatre with their marketing needs, and is a freelance photographer. He has a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations from Lindenwood University and an M.A. in Communication from Drury University.
Donovan DelValle
donovan@numfocus.org
Donovan DelValle (they/them) joined NumFOCUS in 2022 as an Events Intern, and as of 2023 has been hired full-time as the Marketing & Events Coordinator. They received their Bachelor’s in Music Education from New York University in 2021 and have since branched into the events and communications field. They have a background in event planning and working with first-generation students from the Upward Bound program and have aimed to pivot their education and communication skills into a new career in digital marketing, event coordination, and community building.
Jon Starr
jon@numfocus.org
Jonathan joined NumFOCUS in 2023 as Program Manager for the Open-Source Science initiative. He brings experience in science-based open-source projects, science communication and engagement non-profits, and business management and operations. Secondary to NumFOCUS, Jonathan continues to work to enable open science as a core contributor to several open-source projects.
Advisory Council
Matt Greenwood
Matt Greenwood is Chief Innovation Officer and Managing Director at Two Sigma Investments.
Matt Greenwood joined Two Sigma Investments in November 2003. As part of his responsibilities, Matt sets vision and direction for a number of engineering and modeling teams.
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Travis Oliphant
Dr. Oliphant has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Mayo Clinic, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering (and Math) from Brigham Young University.
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Gabriela de Queiroz
Gabriela de Queiroz is a Principal Cloud Advocate Manager at Microsoft. She leads and manages the Global AI/ML/Data team in Education Advocacy.
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Peter Wang
Peter has been developing commercial scientific computing and visualization software for nearly 20 years. He has extensive experience in software design and development across a broad range of areas, including 3D graphics, geophysics, large data simulation and visualization, financial risk modeling, and medical imaging.
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Peter’s interests in the fundamentals of vector computing and interactive visualization led him to co-found Anaconda (formerly Continuum Analytics). As CTO at Anaconda, Peter leads the open source and community innovation group.
As a creator of the PyData community and conferences, he devotes time and energy to growing the Python data science community and advocating and teaching Python at conferences around the world. Peter holds a BA in Physics from Cornell University.
Michael Zargham
Dr. Zargham is the founder and Chief Engineer at BlockScience, as well as a core member of the Metagovernance Project. He holds a PhD in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on Optimal Dynamic Resource Allocation Policies.
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Nathan Epstein
Nathan Epstein is a software engineer and data scientist at Holocene Advisors, LP. He works in quantitative investment research following earlier roles at Bloomberg and Wealthsimple. He has published academic research, authored open source software, and delivered talks at various global conferences and meet-ups.
Amanda Casari
Amanda Casari is a Staff Developer Relations Engineer in Google’s Open Source Programs Office, where she leads the Contributor Experience and Open Source + AI teams.
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Jeremy Tanner
Jeremy Tanner’s NumFOCUS / PyData journey started 10 years ago while working at Continuum Analytics (Now Anaconda). After that, more startups; making code review, communication, bare-metal provisioning / management, and secure connection easier. He now works on open source programs at NVIDIA, accelerating Python in the NumFOCUS cinematic universe and beyond.
Neal Richardson
Neal Richardson is VP of Engineering at Posit and a member of the Apache Software Foundation. He is a maintainer of Apache Arrow, along with many other projects in the R ecosystem. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.