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Phyllis Newhouse is a serial entrepreneur and investor, retired military senior officer and mentor. She is CEO and Founder of ShoulderUp Technology Acquisition Corp, Founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc. (XSI), CEO of Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. and Founder of ShoulderUp, a 501c3.

In 2021, she founded ShoulderUp Technology Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by industry veterans to carry out mergers, capital stock exchanges, asset acquisitions, stock purchases and reorganizations with one or more businesses in the technology and cybersecurity space. ShoulderUp Technology Acquisition Corp closed an upsized $300 million IPO in November 2021.

In 2020, she also co-founded Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. Athena closed a $250 million IPO in March 2021, making it the only SPAC listed on the NYSE with an African American female CEO. In July 2021, the company announced it was taking concentrated solar power company, Heliogen, public in a $2 billion merger.

Newhouse is also the Founder of ShoulderUp, a nonprofit she founded alongside Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis. Dedicated to connecting and supporting women on their entrepreneurial journeys, ShoulderUp introduced ShoulderUp Ventures, the first women-founded and led influencer fund providing impact and exclusive access to a diverse portfolio of media, technology companies and sports entertainment. In 2019 alone its members and affiliates have invested over $10 million in companies like Lime, Rent the Runway and Airbnb

As a pioneer in cybersecurity and business, she is the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the technology category. She was admitted into the 2013 class of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women, and in 2019 was inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of fame. Additionally, XSI received inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list in 2013 and 2014, and has been recognized as one of Women’s Presidents’ Organization’s (WPO) 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned Companies in the U.S. consecutively for the past seven years.

Passionate about women-led businesses, Newhouse teaches aspiring entrepreneurs to recognize and capitalize on their leadership skills and empowers others to operate in greatness. She has been featured in Today, Entrepreneur, Inc., CNBC, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar News, Bloomberg and more. She received her degree from John F. Kennedy University and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, please visit phyllisnewhouse.com.