Talk: Marlene Mhangami - Leadership and Identity in the Pan-African Python movement

Presented by: Marlene Mhangami In this talk, I will be outlining some of the unique aspects of being a young, female community leader in the budding Pan-African Python movement. I will begin by giving the audience an overview of the current state of the African Python community and my role in its development. I will then share some of my personal experiences, both positive and negative, leading in community spaces and juxtapose them to some philosophical ideas about leadership. I will be sharing some of my favorite philosophers’ ideas on the topic, as well as some perspectives on how online communities have historically treated leadership. All of this information will be used, to make a proposition for how our community should view and identify leaders. I also go on to share how my personal and group identity as an African has played a large role in shaping how I lead. Our unique identities are incredibly significant, I argue that Pythonistas intending to build a more diverse and inclusive global community should be thoughtful about their identity. Finally, I will be sharing some anecdotes on what I believe the future leaders of our community should look like.