Sean E. Ahlum joined tekMountain in 2014 as Director of tekMountain. In his daily role, Sean builds entrepreneurial ecosystems, supports startups through mentoring and creative programming, creates connections to capital with equity partners, manages mergers and acquisitions, implements lean startup into the corporate landscape, and serves on the executive leadership team of Castle Branch to drive corporate strategy. Prior to joining the team, Sean served as the director of technology and communications for the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Office of Housing and Residence Life and brings over 17 years of in-depth experience in university information systems, data standards, system coordination, business process flow, and corporate entrepreneurial development. He has served as chair elect of the Residential Management Systems user advisory board, Chair of the Board of Directors of Surfrider Foundation's International Board of Directors, and has founded and led numerous local non-profit agencies, leveraging technology to scale community engagement and business success. The intersections of technology, community, and business development are the basis of his passion, which fits perfectly with the tekMountain vision. Sean received multiple degrees from UNCW including a BA in English, an MFA in Professional Creative Writing, and an MBA from the Cameron School of Business.