Post Date and Author: 
- by  Abby Weingarten
Alumna Maxeme Tuchman ’00—an award-winning, Miami-based entrepreneur and businesswoman—has been named the 2022 commencement speaker for New College of Florida.

She will give her address during an in-person ceremony at 7 p.m. Fri. May 20 on the College Hall bayfront.

Tuchman is the CEO and co-founder of Caribu—an interactive video-calling platform that helps kids have virtual playdates with family and friends when they cannot be physically together.

Caribu was one of Apple’s 15 “Best Apps of 2020” and one of TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions,” and made Fast Company’s list of “World Changing Ideas.” It was also one of the “Top 10 EdTech Companies to Watch” in Forbes, and became one of the most innovative startups in the world by winning the 1776 Global Challenge Cup.

Tuchman has been a winner or finalist in 30-plus pitch competitions, is the 59th Latina in the U.S. to raise more than $1 million in venture funding, and is the first Latinx founder to raise $1 million in equity crowdfunding. She has been recognized and honored as one of the “Top 100 Female Founders” by both Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies at New College. She also holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a second master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Tuchman has said about New College: “The thing that New College teaches you is to really advocate for yourself, to think about your college career with a holistic approach, and to take risks. I wouldn’t have had that agency elsewhere. I wouldn’t have taken as much ownership of my education elsewhere.”

To learn more about Tuchman, visit caribu.com and read ncf.edu/news/tech-trailblazer-alumna-creates-florida-jobs.

For more information on the 2022 commencement and to see a schedule of events, visit ncf.edu/ncf-events/commencement.