Johannes, you’ve known WINPACCS since you were a child. How did that early connection start and what is it about WINPACCS that still fascinates you today?

Johannes Bork: To say I really knew it would be an exaggeration, but I heard about WINPACCS a lot as a child because my father was already looking after the WINPACCS software back then, even before mbi existed.

I joined the WINPACCS team a few years ago, and the more familiar I became with the software, the more fascinating I found it. I was never a software geek and didn’t really expect to end up working in this field. But now I genuinely love it. Understanding its impact on development cooperation and hearing stories from people all over the world who use it still excites me today. This is what motivates me and why I enjoy working with WINPACCS so much.

Today, you are Head of WINPACCS Services & Academy. What does your team do and what do you enjoy about working with them?

Johannes Bork: The WINPACCS Services & Academy team is responsible for all service-related aspects of WINPACCS. We coordinate a wide range of activities, including customer support, marketing, sales, and our training and learning programmes within the Academy.

Interacting with our customers, meeting new people, and hearing their stories is something I really enjoy. It’s inspiring and reminds me why our work matters: Contributing a tiny bit, to make this world a better place. Together, we do our best to ensure that our customers’ needs are met reliably and professionally, always with the user in mind.

What I value most about our WINPACCS Services & Academy team is our shared motivation. It is a privilege to work with such motivated people who share this goal, not only in the Services & Academy department, but in the other WINPACCS departments too. On top of that, we have fun as a team and share lots of good laughs.

You are part of the Services & Academy team but if you could swap roles with someone in the WINPACCS team for one day, who would it be and why?

Johannes Bork: If I could swap roles for a day, I’d love to experience what it’s like to work as part of the development team. To see how ideas turn into practical features and to be part of that creative process. I don’t think I’d be a huge help (laughs), but I really admire the team’s ability to think in abstractions and translate concepts into code.

I’d also be curious to experience the other side: working with WINPACCS users up close. Actually doing project work, facing the real‑world challenges of people working in development cooperation and how WINPACCS can be of help. In the Services & Academy team, we receive a lot of feedback through our trainings, webinars and seminars, but getting a closer look at the real user experience would provide a very valuable perspective for me.