A social club for
connection, expression,
learning & joy.
A space built for young Black Montrealers. To laugh, learn, build. Run by three friends. Open to anyone who shows up. Meet your next group of people with DARA.
A space we wished existed.
DARA was built for people who want more from their twenties than another networking night. We're three friends who grew up between cultures and noticed how rare it is to find spaces where young Black adults can gather without an agenda. Places to laugh, learn, eat, argue, dance, build. So we made one. DARA is about real friendships that form over time, a community you actually want to be part of, and the straightforward joy of showing up as yourself.
Connection
For meeting your people. The kind that stick.
Expression
For showing up as all of it. Every culture, language, mood.
Learning
For the things we've been meaning to try.
Joy
For the laughs we came here for.
A mix of series & one-offs.
Series
A series plays out over multiple nights with the same group. You sign up once, show up regularly, and build something real with the people who keep coming back. Conversations get deeper. Inside jokes form. Numbers are limited so the room stays close.
One-offs
A one-off is a single night. No series, no sign-up, no expectations. Show up when the theme calls you. Skip when it doesn't. Some people use one-offs to get a feel for the room before committing to a series. Others just like the variety.
One of us teaches the rest. Crochet, cooking, beat-making, photography. Whatever the room wants to learn that season.
Easy pace, real conversations. Mount Royal loops, lakeside paths, brunch after. Built for talkers more than racers.
A film picked by the room. Popcorn, opinions, and the kind of post-credits debate you didn't know you needed.
Our first series, island-coded.
A Love Island Watch Series kicking off in June. Four nights, one crew, one season of summer's wildest show. Palm trees, puff puff, bissap and piña coladas. We watch, we laugh, we break it all down. A summer of drama, good company, and zero chill.
Drop your email and we'll send you the details a few days before.
Three friends,
one idea.
DARA was founded by Ifeoluwa Reine Badejoko, Yasmin Olatutu Jolasun, and Christopher Adeoluwa Badejoko. Three friends building the community we wanted to be part of. The name comes from Yoruba, where it means good. A nod to our Nigerian and Beninese roots, and the only shorthand we needed.
Ifeoluwa Reine Badejoko
Reine is 25 and works as a digital consulting analyst in tech. A music obsessive and online creator at heart, she's the person in the room with a project always on the go and a playlist already queued. When she's not in front of a screen, she's at a spin class, trying a new restaurant, or planning her next trip. Her passport is in for a heavy year. She's spent enough time bringing people together to know that good community doesn't happen by accident. So she built one.
Yasmin Olatutu Jolasun
Yasmin is 25 and a third-year PhD candidate in Experimental Medicine. Half Nigerian, half Beninese, born in New Jersey and raised between Québec and Cotonou, she has spent her life navigating between worlds. When she's not in grad school, she's probably cooking something new, trying a nail design she found on Instagram, or deep into an anime. She's often been the only one in the room. She learned early that community isn't something you stumble into. It's something you go out and build.
Christopher Adeoluwa Badejoko
Christopher is 23 and finishing his degree in Business Technology Management at Concordia. Nigerian and Beninese by roots, Canadian by way of life, he has always moved between worlds and made them his own. When he's not focused on school, you'll find him digging through tracks, working on DJ sets, rewatching a classic, or out with his people. Music isn't just a hobby for him. It's something he has been building toward for years. He knows what it feels like to look for a space where you truly belong. That's what brought him to DARA.
Frequently asked.
Stay in the loop.
Get updates on DARA news, upcoming activities, new series, one-off events, and what we're building next.