Diversity and Inclusion Calendar 2022
The GARE Steering Committee is excited to share with you this Diversity and Inclusion Calendar. This calendar has been developed to help to raise awareness, understanding, and appreciation for dates and events that are important to a wide range of cultural causes and interests of our multicultural workforce. This calendar includes a mixture of widely recognized cultural/religious festivals as well as diversity and inclusion related awareness months and key dates, and are not intended as a prescriptive list.
GARE asks that you share with us any widely recognized cultural or religious observances you believe should be included on this calendar. Staff are welcome to contact GARE at GARE@cdcr.ca.gov to suggest other noteworthy dates to add to this calendar. Questions or concerns can also be sent to the GARE email inbox.
Color Shape Key
 | Green Triangle – Diversity Leaders’ Birthdays |
 | Blue Circle – United States Holidays |
 | Red Bar – Religious / Cultural Holidays |
 | Purple Star- International Holidays |
 | Black Square – Equinoxes |
- January 2022
1/1
New Year’s Day Emancipation Proclamation (Black American)
1/4 Birthday of Louis Braille (Creator of system of reading and writing for visually impaired)
1/4 National Braille Day
1/6 Epiphany (Christian)
1/7 Feast of the Epiphany (Christian)
1/9 Guru Gobind Singh Birthday (Sikh)
1/11 Birthday of Alice Paul (Women’s Rights Pioneer)
1/13 Lohri- Maghi (Sikh)
1/14 Makar Sankranti (Hindu)
1/16 National Religious Freedom Day
1/17 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/18 Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
1/18 World Religion Day
1/20 Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
1/24 International Day of Education
1/26 International Customs Day
1/27 International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
1/31 Guru Har Rai Birthday (Sikh)
- February 2022
2/1
Lunar New Year (Year of Tiger)
2/1 National Freedom Day
2/3 Korean New Year
2/4 Rosa Parks Day
2/6 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
2/11 Birthday of Frederick Douglass (Black American leader)
2/12 Lincoln’s Birthday
2/12 International Day of Action on Women’s Health
2/14 Valentine’s Day
2/14 Frederick Douglas Day
2/15 Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (Women’s suffrage Leader)
2/15 Nirvana Day (Buddist)
2/15 International Childhood Cancer Day
2/20 World Day of Social Justice
2/21 President’s Day Washington’s Birthday
2/21 International Mother Language Day
- March 2022
3/1
Maha Shivatri (Hindu)
3/1 Shrove Tuesday (Christian)
3/1 Mardi Gras
3/1 Zero Discrimination Day (UN)
3/2 Ash Wednesday (Christian)
3/4 Employee Appreciation Day
3/8 International Women’s Day (UN)
3/10 Harriet Tubman Day
3/13 Day Light Saving Begins
3/16 Purim (Jewish)
3/17 St Patrick’s Day (Irish)
3/19 Holi, Festival of Colors (Hindu)
3/20 Vernal Equinox
3/20 International Happiness Day (UN)
3/21 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN)
3/21 World Down Syndrome Day
3/22 New-Ruz (Baha’l New Year)
3/22 World Water Day
3/25 International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
3/28 Nowruz (Persian)
3/31 International Transgender Day of Visibility
3/31 Cesar Chavez Day
- April 2022
4/2
World Autism Awareness Day
4/2 Ramadan begins (Islam)
4/2 Equal Pay Day
4/5 Birthday of Booker T. Washington (Early Dominant Leader)
4/6 National Tartan Day (Scottish)
4/7 World Health Day (UN)
4/8 Laylat al-Qadr (Islam)
4/10 Palm Sunday (Christian)
4/10 Dolores Huerta Day
4/14 Holy Thursday (Christian)
4/10 Ram Naumi
4/14 Vaisakhi (Sikh)
4/15 Passover (Jewish)
4/15 Good Friday (Christian)
4/16 Theravadin New Year (Buddhist)
4/16 Emancipation Day
4/17 Easter (Christian)
4/18 Guru Angad Dev Birthday (Sikh)
4/20 Start of Rivdan (Baha’i)
4/22 Earth Day
4/23 National Day of Silence (LGBTQIAA+)
4/27 Yom Hashoah (Jewish)
4/28 World Day for Safety and Health at Work
4/28 Gathering of Nations begins (Native American)
4/30 Ramadan Ends (Islam)
4/30 Gathering of Nations (ends)
- May 2022
5/1
May Day
5/3 Eid al- Fitr (Islam)
5/5 Cinco de Mayo (Mexican American)
5/6 Shavout (Jewish)
5/7 National Day of Prayer
5/8 Birthday of Buddha (Buddhist)
5/8 Mother’s Day
5/9 National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day
5/15 Visakha Bucha/ Wesak Day (Buddhist)
5/15 International Day of Families (UN)
5/16 International Day of Living Together in Peace
5/17 International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
5/19 Malcolm X Day
5/21 World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
5/22 Harvey Milk Day (LGBTQ/Civil Rights Activist)
5/22 International Day for Biological Diversity
5/24 Declaration of the Bab (Baha’i)
5/25 African Freedom Day
5/29 Ascension of Baha’u’llah (Baha’i)
5/30 Memorial Day
5/30 World Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Day
- June 2022
6/1
Global Day of Parents
6/2 Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (Native American)
6/5 World Environment Day
6/8 Race Unity Day
6/12 Loving Day (Interracial Marriage anniversary)
6/12 National Puerto Rican Day Parade
6/12 National Children’s Day
6/15 Native American Citizenship Day
6/16 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan (Sikh)
6/18 International Day for Countering Hate Speech
6/19 Father’s Day
6/19 Juneteenth
6/20 World Refugee Day
6/21 Litha, Summer Solstice (Pagan)
6/23 UN Public Service Day
6/24 Pride Day
6/27 Helen Keller Day (Disability Rights Activist)
6/28 Christopher Street Liberation Day (Anniversary of Stonewall Riots/LGBT Civil Rights Movement)
- July 2022
7/2
Birthday of Thurgood Marshall (Black American)
7/4 Independence Day
7/6 Birthday of 14th Dalai Lama
7/7 The Hajj (Islamic)
7/9 Eid al-Adha (Islam)
7/10 Martyrdom of the Bab (Baha’i)
7/11 World Populace Day
7/13 Asahna Bucha Day
7/14 Bastille Day
7/14 International Non-Binary People’s Day
7/17 World Day of International Justice
7/18 Nelson Mandela International Day
7/24 Pioneer Day (Mormon)
7/25 Pioneer Day (Christian)
7/26 National Disability Independence Day
7/30 International Day of Friendship
7/30 Hijri New Year (Islam)
- August 2022
8/4
Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
8/7 Purple Heart Day
8/9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (UN)
8/13 Left Handers Day
8/15 Feast of the Assumption (Christian)
8/17 Marcus Garvey Day
8/18 Krishna Janamastami (Hindu)
8/19 World Humanitarian Day
8/21 Senior Citizens Day
8/22 American Business Women’s Day
8/22 International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
8/23 International Day for the Remembrances of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
8/24 Marlee Martlin Day (People with Disabilities)
8/26 Women’s Equality Day
8/30 Al-Hijri (Islamic)
8/31 Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu)
- September 2022
9/5
Labor Day
9/7 Literacy Day (UN)
9/11 Patriot Day
9/11 Shemini Atzaret/Simchat Torah (Jewish)
9/12 Grandparents Day
9/15 International Day of Democracy
9/17 World Patient Safety Day
9/20 HeForShe (women)
9/21 International Day of Peace
9/22 Autumnal Equinox
9/22 Mabon (Pagan)
9/23 National Native American Day
9/23 International Day of Sign Languages
9/25 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
9/26 European Day of Languages
9/26 Navratri Begins (Hindu)
9/27 World Tourism Day
9/30 International Translation Day
- October 2022
10/2
Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi
10/2 International Day of Nonviolence
10/5 Yom Kippur (Jewish)
10/5 Dusshera (Hindu)
10/9 Sukkot begins (Jewish)
10/10 World Mental Health Day
10/11 National Coming Out Day (LGBTQIAA+)
10/11 National Indigenous Peoples’ Day
10/15 White Cane Safety Day (Blind Awareness)
10/16 World Food Day
10/16 Bosses Day
10/17 Multicultural Diversity Day
10/17 Spirit Day (LGBTQIAA+ anti-bullying)
10/17 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
10/20 Sikh Holy Day (birth of Guru Granth)
10/22 International Stuttering Awareness Day
10/24 Diwali (Hindu)
10/25 Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
10/25 Birth of Bah’u’llah (Baha’i)
10/25 Larry Itliong Day
10/28 National Immigrants Day
10/29 National Organization for Women (NOW)
10/31 Halloween
10/31 All Souls Day Dia de los Muertos
- November 2022
11/1
All Saints’ Day (Christian)
11/2 National Stress Awareness Day
11/8 Guru Nanak Birthday (Sikh)
11/9 World Freedom Day
11/9 World Adoption Day
11/10 World Science Day for Peace and Development
11/11 Veterans Day
11/13 World Kindness Day
11/16 Dutch American Heritage Day
11/16 International Day for Tolerance
11/19 International Men’s Day
11/20 Transgender Day of Remembrance
11/20 Universal Children’s Day
11/24 Thanksgiving
11/24 Martydom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (Sikh)
11/25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
11/26 Day of the Covenant (Baha’i)
11/27 Advent (Christian)
11/28 Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i)
- December 2022
12/1
Worlds Aid Day
12/3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities
12/5 International Volunteer Day
12/7 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
12/8 Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
12/9 Genocide Prevention Day
12/10 International Human Rights Day
12/12 Our Lady of Guadalupe- Feast Day (Christian)
12/16 Las Posadas begins (Mexican)
12/18 Hanukkah begins at Sunset (Jewish)
12/18 International Migrants Day
12/21 Yule Winter Solstice (Pagan)
12/24 Las Posadas ends (Mexican)
12/25 Christmas
12/26 Kwanzaa begins
12/26 Hanukkah ends at Nightfall (Jewish)
12/31 New Year’s Eve
Disclaimer: This GARE Diversity and Inclusion Calendar highlights and showcases a number of nationally recognized months and events not limited to: religious, cultural, heritage, gender identity and expressions, disability, recognition of diversity leaders, United Nations (UN) international days, etc. This is not an all-inclusive list.