ANDREW Parker

The Health Tech Guru

To anyone who has ever tried to provide or find help for elderly family members – for even the simplest daily necessities like haircuts, groceries, doctor visits, or simply loneliness – it can be daunting and take hours from our overly scheduled lives. Our guru Andrew Parker found a solution:  his passion project and personal calling, Papa.com, which provides companionship and assistance to millions of people in need and gives jobs to thousands of people who want to help others.

When Andrew came home from college in 2011, he spent time helping his grandfather (aka Papa) as much as he could, but he also worked long hours. At the time, he was working as part of a small telehealth team that his father founded learning skills to build a company, hire people, develop strategy, products, and really understand the health care industry. He thought about his grandfather often, and he came up with a simple but brilliant idea. What if he could find a caring and thoughtful person to come and “be a pal” to his papa? He put feelers out, and after trial and research, he saw a real need and a positive response. He left his job and started Papa.com to help older adults and families throughout the aging journey by pairing them to friendly, thoughtful, caring people called “Papa Pals”. Over the last 6 years, he has grown the company to reach one million home visits, with a network of 30,000 Pals in 45 states and 1600 counties. Andrew created a network to connect people in need to people who want to help, and his compassion and kindness have made him a very successful man.

Watch Andrew’s full interview to hear about how to find a Pal, the many Papa Pal “Pack Activities”, and how Papa is headed to Puerto Rico and Hawaii.