Full Lives Series- Dariel Vasquez

Dariel Vasquez, Executive Director of Brothers@

February 19, 2021

Dariel Vasquez is the Executive Director of the Brothers@ Organization, and a first-generation college graduate from Harlem, NY. Dariel graduated from Bard College (Class of 2017) with a joint degree in History and Sociology, and a concentration in Africana-Studies. Youth development and mentorship is Dariel’s passion, and he’s been designing programming and facilitating youth engagement workshops since he was 16 years old. Growing up in public housing projects and being raised by immigrant parents, Dariel considered the possibilities a proper education could provide to be the only viable way for him to help his family out of poverty. Dariel’s passion is fueled by his desire to become the kind of mentor his peers never had. His first year at Bard, Dariel created the Brothers At Bard (BAB) support group with the help of his peers—laying the foundation for the work the organization does today. Dariel received a grant from the New York State My Brothers Keeper Initiative upon graduating at 21, allowing him to continue building the organization full-time as the Executive Director. Since then, Dariel has raised over half a million dollars as the co-founder of Brothers@ to expand the work and impact of the organization.