Our Team
Wellington Souza
Wellington came to the United States at the age of nineteen to learn the English language. He fell in love with the language, the people, the culture, and the country and decided to continue his studies in the U.S. He was awarded a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from High Point University and a master’s degree from Wake Forest University. His career includes the ownership of a tech infrastructure company in the early 2000’s, as well as holding two different Vice Presidential positions at High Point University during its recent years of explosive growth and revolutionary change. In 2010, Wellington was a recipient of the Triad Business Journal’s 40 Leaders under 40 award.
In 2013, Wellington joined Cape Fear Community College as the Vice President for Information Technology Services, where he was challenged to employ and deploy cutting-edge technologies in support of instruction, customer service, and the business of the college. Since his first day at CFCC, Wellington and his team worked harder and smarter to change the status quo and deliver better service to all college constituents. In 2015, Wellington was the recipient of the Wilmington Chamber Foundation’s Leadership Wilmington Outstanding Class Member award. That same year, he was given the opportunity to serve CFCC as Executive Director for Auxiliary Services, which included Information Technology, Maintenance, Custodial Services, and Contracted Services.
In 2012, Wellington co-founded FundFive, a software and services business serving higher education clients across the U.S. Wellington also currently serves as Chief Technology Officer at Kwipped, a Wilmington, NC-based company.
Stephen DeVoid
Stephen has years of experience leading enterprise-level projects at hundreds of institutions of higher education across North America. Stephen has served as a Senior Project Manager with Blackboard Transact and the Blackboard Global Consulting divisions. For more than seven years, Stephen managed the planning, communication, and delivery of enterprise software and hardware implementations, delivered strategic consulting services to institutions that employed various Blackboard solutions, and conducted training and workshops at industry events. In addition to system implementations, he has also advised institutions on integration strategies with various campus systems and helped shape new service offerings designed to better support the needs of existing Blackboard customers.
Stephen also served as an administrator at High Point University in the Office of Information Technology, where he led application development and custom software design, enterprise data initiatives, reporting and analytics adoption, and instructional technology. Stephen created bridges across the business to identify, innovate, and support production applications, each designed to augment and enhance the efficiency and productivity of the university during a major transformation period.
Stephen is a founding member of a tech infrastructure company during the Dot-com period. His career path then included joining a startup development firm and serving in an advising role with various additional startup projects before joining HPU in 2003.
In 2012, Stephen co-founded FundFive. He holds a B.A. in Special Education from High Point University and a M.S. in Information Technology and Management from the Bryan School of Business and Economics at UNC Greensboro. He currently resides with his family in Wilmington, NC.
Ryan Ricks
Ryan was born and raised in Dallas, TX to two public educator parents. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. After college, he started his career with Boeing working on the International Space Station as a NASA Contractor. During his tenure with Boeing, he went back to school to further his engineering career and received a M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Texas at Austin. Following his time at Boeing, Ryan switched over to the Oil & Gas Industry and worked as a Project Manager for a Manufacturing & Fabrication company that specialized in Deep Sea Drilling.
He met his wife and later moved to Wilmington, NC, where he started working for GE Nuclear Energy as a Project Manager & Scheduler on an 8-year, $10B design and construction project that was to build the first American nuclear power plant in decades. During his tenure with GE, he received a M.S. in Finance from Auburn University. Ryan then took a work sabbatical and went back to school full-time and received a M.S. in Accountancy from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Ryan joined FundFive as Chief Financial Officer following his work as a public accountant for two years at RSM.