Diversity and Inclusion Calendar 2023
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 2023
1/1
New Year’s Day
1/1Emancipation Proclamation (Black American)
1/2New Year’s Day Holiday
1/4Birthday of Louis Braille (Creator of system of reading and writing for visually impaired)
1/4National Braille Day
1/5Guru Gobind Singh Ji Jayanti (Sikh)
1/6Feast of Epiphany (Christian)
1/7Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
1/9Guru Gobind Singh Birthday (Sikh)
1/11Birthday of Alice Paul (Women’s Rights Pioneer)
1/13Lohri- Maghi (Sikh)
1/15Makarsankranti (Hindu festival to Sun God, Surya)
1/15World Religious Freedom Day
1/16Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/18World Religion Day
1/22Lunar New Year (Year of Rabbit)
1/24International Day of Education
1/26International Customs Day
1/26Vasant Panchami (Hindu)
1/27International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (UN)
- February 2023
2/1National Freedom Day
2/2Candlemas (Christian)
2/3Korean New Year
2/3Guru Har Rai Birthday (Sikh)
2/4Rosa Parks Day
2/6International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
2/8Safer Internet Day
2/12Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday
2/14Valentine’s Day
2/14Frederick Douglas Birthday (Abolitionist and Social Reformer)
2/15Susan B. Anthony Birthday (Women’s suffrage Leader)
2/15Nirvana Day (Buddhist)
2/15International Childhood Cancer Day
2/18Maha Shivaratri (Hindu)
2/20World Day of Social Justice
2/20Presidents Day / George Washington’s Birthday
2/21Mardi Gras
2/21Shrove Tuesday (Christian)
2/22Ash Wednesday (Christian)
- March 2023
3/1Zero Discrimination Day (UN)
3/3Employee Appreciation Day
3/6Magha Puja Day (Buddhist)
3/8International Women’s Day (UN)
3/8Holi (Hindu)
3/10Harriet Tubman Day
3/14Equal Pay Day
3/17St Patrick Day
3/20Vernal Equinox
3/21International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN)
3/21World Down Syndrome Day
3/21New-Ruz (Baha’l New Year)
3/21Nowruz (Persian)
3/22Ramadan begins (Islam)
3/23Atheist Day
3/25International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
3/25Guru Angad Dev Jotijot (Sikh)
3/30Ram Naumi (Hindu)
3/31International Transgender Day of Visibility
3/31Cesar Chavez Day
- April 2023
4/2
World Autism Awareness Day
4/2Palm Sunday (Christian)
4/5Birthday of Booker T. Washington (Early Dominant Leader)
4/5Passover begins (Jewish)
4/6National Tartan Day (Scottish)
4/6Holy Thursday (Christian)
4/6Theravad New Year (Buddhist)
4/6Hanuman Jayanti (Hindu)
4/7World Health Day (UN)
4/7Good Friday (Christian)
4/9Easter Sunday (Christian)
4/10Dolores Huerta Day
4/10Easter Monday (Christian)
4/13Passover Ends (Jewish)
4/14National Day of Silence (LGBTQIA+)
4/17Emancipation Day
4/17Yom Hashoah (Jewish)
4/18Laylat al-Qadr (Islam)
4/21Ramadan Ends (Islam)
4/21Start of Rivdan (Baha’i)
4/22Earth Day
4/22Akshaya Tritiya (Hindu)
4/22Eid al-Fitr (Islam)
4/27Gathering of Nations begins (Native American)
4/27African Freedom Day
4/28World Day for Safety and Health at Work
4/30Gathering of Nations (ends)
- May 2023
5/1
May Day (International Workers’ Day)
5/4National Day of Prayer
5/4National Day of Reason
5/5Cinco de Mayo (Mexican American)
5/14Mother’s Day
5/15International Day for Families (UN)
5/16International Day of Living Together in Peace
5/17International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
5/19Vesak Buddha Day (Buddhist)
5/19Malcolm X Day
5/21Multicultural Diversity Day
5/21World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
5/22Harvey Milk Day (LGBTQ/Civil Rights Activist)
5/24Declaration of the Bab (Baha’i)
5/25Shavout (Jewish)
5/28International Day of Action for Women’s Health
5/29Ascension of Baha’u’llah (Baha’i)
5/29Memorial Day
5/30World Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Day
- June 2023
6/1
Global Day of Parents
6/2Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (Native American)
6/5World Environment Day
6/11Race Unity Day
6/11National Puerto Rican Day Parade
6/11National Children’s Day
6/12Loving Day (Interracial Marriage anniversary)
6/16Martyrdom of Guru Arjan (Sikh)
6/18International Day for Countering Hate Speech
6/19Father’s Day
6/19Juneteenth
6/20World Refugee Day
6/21Summer Solstice
6/21Litha, Summer Solstice (Pagan)
6/23UN Public Service Day
6/27Helen Keller Day (Disability Rights Activist)
6/28Christopher Street Liberation Day (Anniversary of Stonewall Riots/LGBT Civil Rights Movement)
6/29Eid-al-Adha (Islam)
- July 2023
7/2
Thurgood Marshall Birthday (Civil Rights Activist)
7/3Guru Pumima (Hindu)
7/3Asla-Dharma Day (Buddhist)
7/4Independence Day
7/614th Dalai Lama Birthday
7/7The Hajj (Islamic)
7/9Eid al-Adha (Islam)
7/9Martyrdom of the Bab (Baha’i)
7/11World Populace Day
7/14Bastille Day
7/14International Non-Binary People’s Day
7/17World Day of International Justice
7/18Nelson Mandela International Day
7/18Hijra- Islamic New Year (Islam)
7/24Pioneer Day (Mormon)
7/25Pioneer Day (Christian)
7/26National Disability Independence Day
7/28Day of Ashura/Muharram (Islam)
- August 2023
8/4
Barack Obama Birthday (US 1st Black President)
8/7Purple Heart Day
8/9International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (UN)
8/13Left Handers Day
8/13Obon (Buddhist)
8/15Feast of the Assumption (Christian)
8/17Marcus Garvey Day
8/19World Humanitarian Day
8/21Senior Citizens Day
8/21Nag Panchami (Hindu)
8/22International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
8/23International Day for the remembrances of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
8/24Marlee Matlin Day (People with Disabilities)
8/26Women’s Equality Day
8/30Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
8/30Al-Hijri (Islamic)
- September 2023
9/4
Labor Day
9/5International Day of Charity
9/6Shree Krishna Janamashtami (Hindu)
9/8Literacy Day (UN)
9/10Grandparents Day
9/11Patriot Day
9/14Holy Cross Day (Christian)
9/15International Day of Democracy
9/15Rosh Hashanah begins (Jewish)
9/15National Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month (begins)
9/17Native American Citizenship Day
9/17World Patient Safety Day
9/17Rosh Hashanah ends (Jewish)
9/18Ganesha Chaturthi (Hindu)
9/20HeForShe (UN promoting gender equality)
9/21International Day of Peace
9/21Mabon (Pagan)
9/21World Gratitude Day
9/22Autumnal Equinox
9/22National Native American Day
9/22American Business Women’s Day
9/23International Day of Sign Languages
9/24Yom Kippur begins (Jewish)
9/25Yom Kippur ends (Jewish)
9/26European Day of Languages
9/26Mawlid al-Nabi
9/27World Tourism Day
9/29Sukkot begins (Jewish)
9/30International Translation Day
- October 2023
10/2Mahatma Gandhi Birthday
10/2International Day of Nonviolence
10/6Shemini Atzaret/ Simchat Torah begins (Jewish)
10/6Sukkot ends (Jewish)
10/7Shemini Atzaret/ Simchat Torah ends (Jewish)
10/9Milad un Nabi (Islam)
10/9National Indigenous Peoples’ Day
10/10World Mental Health Day
10/11National Coming Out Day (LGBTQIA+)
10/12US Free Thought Day
10/12World Sight Day
10/15Navratri Begins (Hindu)
10/15White Cane Safety Day (Blind Awareness)
10/16Bosses Day
10/16World Food Day
10/16Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
10/16Waste Reduction Week
10/17International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
10/17Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
10/19Spirit Day (LGBTQIA+ anti-bullying)
10/17International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
10/20Sikh Holy Day (birth of Guru Granth)
10/22International Stuttering Awareness Day
10/24Dusshera (Hindu)
10/25Larry Itliong Day
10/29National Organization for Women (NOW)
10/31Halloween
10/31Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead begins)
- November 2023
11/1
All Saints’ Day (Christian)
11/2National Stress Awareness Day
11/2All Souls Day
11/2Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead ends)
11/9World Freedom Day
11/9World Adoption Day
11/10World Science Day for Peace and Development
11/11Veterans Day
11/12Birth of Bah’u’llah (Baha’i)
11/12Deepawali (Diwali) (Hindu)
11/13World Kindness Day
11/16Dutch American Heritage Day
11/16International Day for Tolerance (UN)
11/19International Men’s Day
11/20Transgender Day of Remembrance
11/20Universal Children’s Day (UN)
11/23Thanksgiving Day
11/24Martydom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (Sikh)
11/25International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
11/26Day of the Covenant (Baha’i)
11/27Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti (Sikh)
11/28Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i)
- December 2023
12/1
Worlds Aids Day
12/3International Day of Persons with Disabilities
12/3Advent (Christian)
12/5International Volunteer Day
12/7Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
12/7Hanukkah begins (Jewish)
12/8Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
12/9International Genocide Prevention Day
12/10International Human Rights Day
12/12Our Lady of Guadalupe- Feast Day (Christian)
12/15Guru Gobind Singh Guryai (Sikh)
12/15Hanukkah ends (Jewish)
12/16Las Posadas begins (Mexican)
12/18International Migrants Day
12/21Yule Winter Solstice (Pagan)
12/22Geeta Jayanti (Hindu)
12/24Christmas Eve (Christian)
12/24Las Posadas ends (Mexican)
12/25Christmas Day
12/26Kwanzaa
12/31New 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.