Meet Colby Takeda

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Colby Takeda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Colby below.

Colby , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

My purpose has always been rooted in community. I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by people who believed in me, encouraged me, and reminded me that service matters, but my sense of purpose deepened as I started to see the inequities in our healthcare system firsthand.

While still in high school, I volunteered in a local nursing home and constantly helped older adults navigate a system that often felt impossible to understand. From filling out forms to coordinating appointments, I saw how much fell through the cracks and how much depended on having someone by your side. That experience left a mark on me.

At the same time, through my education and professional leadership roles, I found myself drawn again and again to spaces where people came together to solve big challenges. In college, I worked at a small nonprofit where it was all hands on deck. One day I’d be coordinating an event, the next managing volunteers or writing our newsletter. As team members left, I stepped into bigger roles, and by 22, I was running statewide operations. That experience taught me that leadership isn’t about titles—it’s about listening, collaborating, and showing up for others.

Later, working again in senior care, I saw how fragile the system was. Older adults were isolated, skipping meals, delaying care, and losing touch with their communities. Together with a local researcher, I helped launch a simple “pen pal” program connecting students with older adults over phone and video calls. What started as friendly conversations grew into something more—sharing recipes, swapping exercise routines, and building bonds that improved health outcomes. When the COVID-19 hit, that same trust helped increase vaccination rates and other preventative measures.

That’s when it clicked for me: relationships are health interventions.

Pear Suite grew from that realization. At first, we were connecting people to resources during moments of crisis, like during the COVID-19 pandemic in my home state of Hawaiʻi. But as I went deeper, I realized the people doing this work—community health workers—lacked the tools and support they needed to be successful. I found myself manually building reports, trying to piece together systems that didn’t exist. And I realized I wasn’t alone.

That challenge became our opportunity. Pear Suite was born with one goal: to empower community health workers so they can support the communities they serve.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

We believe health doesn’t start in hospitals. It starts in neighborhoods, community centers, schools, and living rooms. That’s why we built Pear Suite: an AI-powered care navigation platform designed to equip community health workers (CHWs) and other frontline providers with the tools they need to meet people where they are.

We’re building technology not to replace people, but to amplify them. CHWs bring lived experience, cultural insight, and local trust that no algorithm can replicate. Pear Suite’s AI helps reduce the busywork by automating reports, surfacing actionable insights, and connecting the dots between clinical and social needs. This allows CHWs to focus on what they do best: building relationships, solving problems in real time, and helping their neighbors thrive.

What makes us unique is that we’re not just a software company. We also provide wraparound support with health plan contracting, credentialing, training, compliance, clinical review, and claims management. Many of our customers are small community-based organizations that historically haven’t had access to sustainable funding or trusted technology. To help fill that gap, we created the Pear Cares Provider Network, a community where CHWs and CBOs can operate under our operations hub while collaborating, sharing best practices, and strengthening one another.

The most exciting part for me is seeing the blend of AI and “helpful humans” in action. When CHWs are equipped with the right technology and support, they become the ultimate connectors. They bridge gaps, reduce costs, and, most importantly, improve lives at the community level.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Authenticity. At the end of the day, people want to work with people they trust. I’ve learned that authenticity isn’t a tactic; it’s who you are when no one’s watching. My advice is simple: be yourself. People can tell when you’re being genuine, and trust is built in those moments.

Resilience. We’ve probably made every mistake in the startup playbook. But every stumble became an opportunity to learn and get stronger. If you’re afraid to take risks, you’ll never unlock what’s possible. My advice: don’t be afraid to try, fail, and try again. That’s where growth lives.

Creativity. When we first started Pear Suite, we were running everything on Google Sheets and a few scrappy tools. We got creative with partnerships, business development, and how we delivered value. Innovation doesn’t always mean fancy technology; it often means doing a lot with a little. For anyone starting, lean into creativity. It’s a superpower.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I would spend it leaning fully into the things that bring me joy and meaning: time with family, exploring new places, discovering coffee shops tucked away in different corners of the world, and savoring food and experiences that connect me to culture and community.

I also wouldn’t step away from work. For me, work has never just been a job. It’s where I blend creativity, personal growth, and community impact. When I’m building something new, coaching others, or seeing an idea take shape and make a difference, I lose track of time in the best way possible. That feeling of purpose is energizing, and I’d want to carry it with me right to the end.

At the same time, I’d be intentional about passing on what I’ve learned. Mentorship and coaching have shaped my own journey, and I’d want to create space to guide others, helping them avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made while encouraging them to chart their own paths. If I only had ten years left, I’d measure my time not just in what I built but in how many others I helped rise. Legacy, to me, isn’t about what you keep. It’s about what you give away.

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