Culture
Tribu, The Uber of Volunteering
By Jacqueline van den Driest
Michaela Bercu likes to break down barriers. In November, 1988, she became the first model to wear jeans on the cover of Vogue, shunning the usual formality of the high-end fashion magazine. "I had just looked at that picture and sensed the winds of change," famed Vogue editor Anna Wintour recalled. "And you can't ask for more from a cover image than that."
It's now 30 years later and Bercu is hoping to change another norm: toppling the barriers of entry to volunteering. Inspired by the word "contribute," she has launched Tribu, an app which connects volunteering needs with those who wish to help. She has spent the past four years developing the platform with her husband, They started by launching it in a Tel Aviv neighborhood to see if it would actually work. An elderly woman was in the hospital and had no family to visit her. Like a bat signal being broadcast in the sky, people who had downloaded the app saw the opportunity and quickly rushed to her bedside. "Suddenly she had so many visitors coming to take care of her," Bercu told The Grapevine news site. "It's just a small thing to sit with someone who is alone so they are not so lonely. And it lightens up her life. And for the one who's giving the service, it makes you feel wonderful. You change someone's life."
You would think, like many supermodels, Bercu’s second act would be something like becoming a Pilates instructor or releasing a skin-care line. Instead, she’s releasing a new app, Tribu, that she has created with her husband, Israeli tech entrepreneur Ron Zuckerman.
The Tribu icon is friendly and inviting: a bright red square with a smiley face. But don’t be fooled. Bercu and Zuckerman say Tribu is poised to become the Uber of volunteering, a technology that could revolutionize the concept of people helping people.
Tribu originates from a personal cause close to Bercu. While living in
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