DARIEL VASQUEZ, Co-Founder & CEO, Brothers@

Dariel Vasquez is 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.

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. As one of the Brothers@ co-founders, Dariel helped raise over a million dollars over the last three years to expand the organization across NY State.

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. Having witnessed his childhood friends make decisions that negatively impacted their lives because they lacked positive role models and support, Dariel’s passion is fueled by his desire to become the kind of mentor his peers never had.

Dariel’s career goal is to expand on the work he’s currently doing and create a mentorship and college persistence network for young men of color from underserved communities.