About Anise Health
Anise is the gold standard of mental health for the Asian community. Our culturally sensitive therapy & coaching program helps clients feel seen & heard and drives outcomes.
Our beginning
Anise Health was founded in early 2021 by two women of color who experienced firsthand the ineffectiveness of the current mental health care system for individuals from underserved communities who hold intersectional identities.
We dreamed up a solution for culturally sensitive therapy & coaching that we wished we had access to our whole lives.
The name “Anise” pays homage to the ‘star anise’, a dry fruit originating in Asia known for its unique flavors and healing properties. At Anise, we acknowledge and celebrate the diverse experiences and values that make each of us unique, and help our community members heal so they can shine bright and reach their full potential!
OUR VISION
Empower everyone to live an authentic & flourishing life.
OUR MISSION
Build the gold standard of culturally sensitive mental health care for the Asian community.
OUR VALUES
Empathy & Respect
We show compassion and understanding of each individual's experiences and values
Honesty & Integrity
We hold ourselves accountable to the highest ethical standards and believe in transparency with all customers
Relentless Innovation
We build with urgency and outside the boundaries of the current healthcare system
Measurement-driven
We achieve outcomes by upholding the principles of evidence-based care in all that we do
Customer Centric
We solve real problems that we hear directly from our patients and providers
Our Founders
CO-FOUNDER / CEO
Alice Zhang
“As a 1.5-gen immigrant, I’ve experienced firsthand the feeling of not belonging, the pressure of demanding expectations, and the struggle of being caught between polar opposite cultures. But when I finally sought therapy to work through those challenges which were inextricably linked to my Asian values and immigrant upbringing, I ended up cycling through multiple therapists, each time feeling more defeated. I knew that if finding effective care was so hard even for someone like me who has a good understanding of mental health, having studied psychology and being trained as a wellbeing coach, it must be nearly impossible for many others out there who share my background.”
Alice Zhang
Co-Founder & CEO of Anise Health
CO-FOUNDER / COO
Nisha Desai
“Like many children of immigrants, I grew up in a traditional South Asian household where mental health was never talked about. My emotional personality was viewed as ‘weak-hearted’ and it wasn’t until college that I realized it was ok to not always be ok. Unfortunately, my school had a broken mental health system and, like me, many of my classmates weren’t able to get the support they needed. There was a tragic loss of lives - 14 suicides - and I noticed many of them were people of color and Asian Americans, specifically. This rang alarm bells for me and left me asking: if the people of color in this country had better treatment options to help process our emotions, could the outcome be different?”
Nisha Desai
Co-Founder & COO of Anise Health
Meet The Team
HEAD OF ENGINEERING
Tam is a second-generation half-Filipino, half-Vietnamese, Asian American. He was born and raised in Washington DC but spent the past decade working abroad in Europe and Asia, mainly in Japan, China, Indonesia, and Singapore! During these travels, he saw one consistent theme: people suffering under immense work pressure and cultural blockades without anywhere to turn. He realized that the value of mental health is paramount, and as Anise’s Head of Engineering he aspires to bring calm and happiness to all people in ways tailored to the individual.
Tam-Sanh Nguyen
HEAD OF GROWTH
Angel is a second-generation Chinese American and Midwesterner who is passionate about empowering the Asian community to live a flourishing, authentic life. Prior to Anise, Angel was a program manager at Meta's Elections Integrity team, where she managed a $90M account classifying political ads for the US elections. She also worked at TikTok's Institute of Monetization Integrity, Twitter's Counsel Org, the UNDP's Chief Digital Office, Gusto's Business Insights and Operations team, and Kearney as a management consultant. Angel has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University.
Angel Wang
DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL OPS
Daryl is a second-generation Chinese-Indonesian Asian-American. He was born and raised in Southern California, where he grew up loving all physical activity, including golf, basketball, swimming, and even cooking. He joined Anise as the Director of Clinical Operations after holding several operations, strategy, and engineering roles at startups in the health tech, consumer goods, and education sectors. Daryl is excited to help impact the mental health issues in BIPOC populations by scaling our operations and expanding industry-leading client and provider experience.
Daryl Suharli
LEAD SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Rachel is a born and raised Californian-turned-East-Coaster. She holds a Masters in Computer Science from Boston University with a focus in data computing and is Anise’s Lead Software Engineer. In her free time, she likes to indulge her huge sweet tooth — currently on the hunt for the best croissant in the US! She has a strong passion for providing care that is unique and tailored and is excited to be working with the Anise team to bring a more culturally-responsive care model to the table.
Rachel Peng
CLINICAL MANAGER
Jennifer is an LCSW with a Master's in Social Work from USC, and she's passionate about helping Asian Americans heal from trauma. With a deep understanding of cultural nuances and a commitment to evidence-based practices like DBT and EMDR, Jennifer is an expert at guiding her clients through the healing journey. As part of her self-care routine, she enjoys taking walks with her dog and trying out new restaurants in the Los Angeles area!
Jennifer Oh, LCSW
Anise in the News
Our Commitment to Diversity
100% of Anise Health’s full-time team belongs to a racial minority, and we embrace our intersectional identities in both our professional and personal lives.
We are a mission-driven healthcare organization built on the principal of serving diverse and underserved communities. That’s why we’ve pioneered an evidenced-based, clinical care model that is culturally sensitive and more suitable for people of color than the existing standard of care. Our services aim to eliminate health disparities in mental health outcomes and our results within the Asian community show that our holistic approach is more likely to improve the engagement rates and overall health of BIPOC individuals.