Draft:Deborah Nicholson

Submission declined on 4 November 2025 by Lovelyfurball (talk).

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Declined by Lovelyfurball 2 days ago. Last edited by Lovelyfurball 2 days ago. Reviewer: Inform author.

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Comment: Needs more reliable secondary sources Lovelyfurball (talk) 03:11, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Deborah Nicholson is an American open source community advocate and policy expert, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Python Software Foundation (PSF). She joined the PSF in April 2022.^[1]

Career and advocacy

Nicholson became involved in the free software movement in 2006 after years of local political organizing in Massachusetts.^[2]

Prior to her role at the Python Software Foundation, Nicholson worked in various positions within the open source and free software ecosystem:

Open Source Initiative (OSI): Served as Interim General Manager^[3]
Software Freedom Conservancy: Served as the Director of Community Operations^[3]
Open Invention Network (OIN): Community Outreach Director^[4]
Free Software Foundation (FSF): Membership coordinator^[5]
GNU MediaGoblin: Community outreach overlord^[6]
Seattle GNU/Linux Conference (SeaGL): Founding organizer^[7]

In 2019, she received the O'Reilly Open Source Award for the Advancement of Free Software.^[7]

Personal life

Nicholson lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband.^[8]

References

^ "Python Software Foundation Staff". Python.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ "Deb Nicholson joins Conservancy as Director of Community Operations". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ ^a ^b "Deb Nicholson to Join Open Source Initiative as Interim General Manager". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ fighting-patent-trolls-, Roblimo from the; Dept, -Other-Dark-Forces-for-the-Good-of-All-Humanity (2013-06-19). "Deb Nicholson Talks About the Open Invention Network (Video) - Slashdot". linux.slashdot.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ "OpenStreetMap and Deborah Nicholson win 2018 FSF Awards". March 23, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
^ "MediaGoblin". mediagoblin.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ ^a ^b "Deb Nicholson Receives the Award for the Advancement of Free Software". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
^ "Deb Nicholson".

[1] "Python Software Foundation Staff". Python.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[2] "Deb Nicholson joins Conservancy as Director of Community Operations". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[:0-3] "Deb Nicholson to Join Open Source Initiative as Interim General Manager". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[4] ting-patent-trolls-, Roblimo from the; Dept, -Other-Dark-Forces-for-the-Good-of-All-Humanity (2013-06-19). "Deb Nicholson Talks About the Open Invention Network (Video) - Slashdot". linux.slashdot.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[5] "OpenStreetMap and Deborah Nicholson win 2018 FSF Awards". March 23, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2025.

[6] "MediaGoblin". mediagoblin.org. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[:1-7] "Deb Nicholson Receives the Award for the Advancement of Free Software". Software Freedom Conservancy. Retrieved 2025-10-10.

[8] "Deb Nicholson".

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