Page 10 - Healthcare Heroes 2025

HealthcareHEROES
A P R O G R A M O F B U S I N E S S W E S T & H E A L T H C A R E N E W S
Community Health
She’s a Fighter
and Advocate
Who Helps
Others Overcome
and Thrive
By Joseph Bednar
bednar@businesswest.com
Areliz Barbosa says she was born a fighter.
“My midwife, her name was Olivia. And my
mom was screaming at the top of her lungs, and
she had to get on top of my mom and literally
forced me out before they grabbed the forceps to
pull me out,” she related. “My mom was so grateful to her that
she gave me her middle name.”
It’s a name, she said, that derives from the olive tree, and
Barbosa said it also has connotations of strong roots — and it’s
a middle name she has often reflected on.
“In order for her to thrive and survive, you need strong
roots. And in order for me to be able to overcome the things
“In order for her to thrive and survive,
you need strong roots. And in order for
me to be able to overcome the things
I’ve overcome is because of the roots I’ve
been able to make here in Western Mass.
and my mentors and people that I’ve
been able to connect with.”
Areliz Barbosa
Clinical Assistant Professor and
Senior Project Coordinator,
Bay Path University
I’ve overcome is because of the roots I’ve been able to make
here in Western Mass. and my mentors and people that I’ve
been able to connect with.”
While she’s a professor at Bay Path University and juggles
many other roles as well (more on those later), Barbosa also
recently founded Olivia’s Mission LLC, a social impact business
dedicated to advancing health equity.
“I often say, like Mother Teresa, ‘I alone cannot change the
world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many
ripples.’ It’s really about investing in other people and helping
them,” she told BusinessWest. “I also am a plant lady, and a lot
of teachers or professors use the analogy of planting a seed so
people can grow into their full potential. So these are just little
seeds that I’m planting to better serve our world and inspire
the next generation.”
Her specific role at Bay Path is clinical assistant professor
and senior project coordinator of SAMHSA initiatives, she
explained, referring to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.
“I work within our physician assistant program, which sits
in our Health Science department. I help develop a curriculum
that’s focused on substance use disorder, multiple pathways
to recovery, harm reduction, co-occurring disorders, and
addressing the stigmas around substances.”
H10
2025 << 2025 HEALTHCARE HEROES >>