PBN 2025 DIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION AWARDS
Health Care (Small Company): Revive Therapeutic Services
Leaders at Revive Therapeutic Services say they are proud of how their diverse staff of around 70 practice providers embraces its identity and provides approachable and relatable care for clients.
The Providence-based therapy services provider has supported more than 5,000 clients since 2021, providing them with the tools and support necessary to improve their mental well-being.
Akos Antwi, a co-founder of Revive, said the organization has put diversity and equal opportunity, for clients and clinicians alike, at the center of its operations. A diverse and approachable workforce creates a vital sense of trust for clients, she said. A key factor to the genesis of Revive was the lack of mental health services offered to and by people of color.
Akos Antwi and her sister Abby Antwi who co-founded Revive, both hail from an immigrant Ghanaian family.
“For me, diversity and equity aren’t buzzwords; they’re just the way we believe care should be delivered,” Akos Antwi said. “Our clients come from all kinds of backgrounds, so having a team that truly reflects the community makes a huge difference. When people walk through our doors and see providers who ‘get’ them, who understand their story, it creates trust. And that trust is everything in mental health.”
Part of that includes clinicians and other mental health professionals at Revive being able to empathize with others from similar cultural backgrounds through shared experiences, Clinical Director Dee Tavares said.
“Clinicians being able to communicate with clients in a language that is comfortable to them is also vital,” Tavares said.
Several administrative staff members are bilingual, allowing them to better help individuals calling for support who have language barriers.
Community Engagement Manager Alexandria D’Angelo said staff members at Revive can provide therapy in five different languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and American Sign Language.
“Our mission is to reach everyone, including the people who aren’t typically reached,” D’Angelo said.
The organization has also helped tailor other programs such as its conflict-free case management groups to offer bilingual assistance.
“We have admins on there to communicate with participants if they call in and they need that extra support with language barriers,” said Debbie Mendes, Revive’s office manager. “So we communicate that way with our caseworkers and admins as well.”
Despite the strides Revive has made in communities of color and in queer spaces, D’Angelo said that challenges remain for the organization to tackle.
“There is still a stigma around mental health, but it’s more prevalent in certain communities, so breaking through those barriers is hard,” she said.
One of those challenges is transportation and access. A solution Revive has implemented is continued facilitation of telehealth. Another is opening locations on accessible bus routes, D’Angelo said.
Finding staff who will offer pediatric services has been another difficult challenge to overcome, D’Angelo said.
“We’ve always offered medication management for children [8 years old or older], but within the last year we lowered the age of children we were seeing from 14 to 8,” D’Angelo said.
Hiring Tavares in the past year has helped offer more pediatric services, she said.
Attracting a diverse pool of applicants and qualified staff starts with approachability and visibility in the community, Tavares said.
“They actually see us in the community, volunteering and at various other outreach engagements,” she said. “And I think that speaks loudly to individuals to feel comfortable in applying, knowing that the agency has that commitment and care about the community.”
The staff is trained and guided through supportive programs and workforce development offerings in-house.
“Also really ensuring that individuals get timely feedback on their performance,” Tavares said. “We also want to be looking at their advancement in their careers and what their goals are on a personal level. And we try to look at other opportunities within the agency to help them grow, either through training or other positions that they can continue to excel in and grow in the areas that they want to.”
