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.

(Send an email to GARE.)

Color Shape Key

Green Triangle icon Green Triangle – Diversity Leaders’ Birthdays
Blue circleBlue Circle – United States Holidays
Red bar icon Red Bar – Religious / Cultural Holidays
Purple star icon Purple Star- International Holidays
black squareBlack Square – Equinoxes
  • January 2023

    1/1 Blue circle New Year’s Day
    1/1 Blue circle Emancipation Proclamation (Black American)
    1/2 Blue circle New Year’s Day Holiday
    1/4 Green Triangle icon Birthday of Louis Braille (Creator of system of reading and writing for visually impaired)
    1/4 Blue circle National Braille Day
    1/5 Red bar icon Guru Gobind Singh Ji Jayanti (Sikh)
    1/6 Red bar icon Feast of Epiphany (Christian)
    1/7 Red bar icon Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
    1/9 Red bar icon Guru Gobind Singh Birthday (Sikh)
    1/11 Green Triangle icon Birthday of Alice Paul (Women’s Rights Pioneer)
    1/13 Red bar icon Lohri- Maghi (Sikh)
    1/15 Red bar icon Makarsankranti (Hindu festival to Sun God, Surya)
    1/15 Blue circle World Religious Freedom Day
    1/16 Blue circle Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    1/18 Purple star icon World Religion Day
    1/22 Red bar icon Lunar New Year (Year of Rabbit)
    1/24 Purple star icon International Day of Education
    1/26 Purple star icon International Customs Day
    1/26 Red bar icon Vasant Panchami (Hindu)
    1/27 Purple star icon International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (UN)


  • February 2023


    2/1 Blue circle National Freedom Day
    2/2 Red bar icon Candlemas (Christian)
    2/3 Red bar icon Korean New Year
    2/3 Red bar icon Guru Har Rai Birthday (Sikh)
    2/4 Green Triangle icon Rosa Parks Day
    2/6 Purple star icon International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
    2/8 Purple star icon Safer Internet Day
    2/12 Green Triangle icon Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday
    2/14 Blue circle Valentine’s Day
    2/14 Green Triangle icon Frederick Douglas Birthday (Abolitionist and Social Reformer)
    2/15 Green Triangle icon Susan B. Anthony Birthday (Women’s suffrage Leader)
    2/15 Red bar icon Nirvana Day (Buddhist)
    2/15 Purple star icon International Childhood Cancer Day
    2/18 Red bar icon Maha Shivaratri (Hindu)
    2/20 Purple star icon World Day of Social Justice
    2/20 Blue circle Presidents Day / George Washington’s Birthday
    2/21 Red bar icon Mardi Gras
    2/21 Red bar icon Shrove Tuesday (Christian)
    2/22 Red bar icon Ash Wednesday (Christian)


  • March 2023


    3/1 Purple star icon Zero Discrimination Day (UN)
    3/3 Blue circle Employee Appreciation Day
    3/6 Red bar icon Magha Puja Day (Buddhist)
    3/8 Purple star icon International Women’s Day (UN)
    3/8 Red bar icon Holi (Hindu)
    3/10 Blue circle Harriet Tubman Day
    3/14 Blue circle Equal Pay Day
    3/17 Blue circle St Patrick Day
    3/20 black square Vernal Equinox
    3/21 Purple star icon International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN)
    3/21 Purple star icon World Down Syndrome Day
    3/21 Red bar icon New-Ruz (Baha’l New Year)
    3/21 Red bar icon Nowruz (Persian)
    3/22 Red bar icon Ramadan begins (Islam)
    3/23 Purple star icon Atheist Day
    3/25 Purple star icon International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
    3/25 Red bar icon Guru Angad Dev Jotijot (Sikh)
    3/30 Red bar icon Ram Naumi (Hindu)
    3/31 Purple star icon International Transgender Day of Visibility
    3/31 Green Triangle icon Cesar Chavez Day


  • April 2023

    4/2 Purple star icon World Autism Awareness Day
    4/2 Red bar icon Palm Sunday (Christian)
    4/5 Green Triangle icon Birthday of Booker T. Washington (Early Dominant Leader)
    4/5 Red bar icon Passover begins (Jewish)
    4/6 Red bar icon National Tartan Day (Scottish)
    4/6 Red bar icon Holy Thursday (Christian)
    4/6 Red bar icon Theravad New Year (Buddhist)
    4/6 Red bar icon Hanuman Jayanti (Hindu)
    4/7 Purple star icon World Health Day (UN)
    4/7 Red bar icon Good Friday (Christian)
    4/9 Red bar icon Easter Sunday (Christian)
    4/10 Green Triangle icon Dolores Huerta Day
    4/10 Red bar icon Easter Monday (Christian)
    4/13 Red bar icon Passover Ends (Jewish)
    4/14 Blue circle National Day of Silence (LGBTQIA+)
    4/17 Blue circle Emancipation Day
    4/17 Red bar icon Yom Hashoah (Jewish)
    4/18 Red bar icon Laylat al-Qadr (Islam)
    4/21 Red bar icon Ramadan Ends (Islam)
    4/21 Red bar icon Start of Rivdan (Baha’i)
    4/22 Purple star icon Earth Day
    4/22 Red bar icon Akshaya Tritiya (Hindu)
    4/22 Red bar icon Eid al-Fitr (Islam)
    4/27 Blue circle Gathering of Nations begins (Native American)
    4/27 Purple star icon African Freedom Day
    4/28 Purple star icon World Day for Safety and Health at Work
    4/30 Blue circle Gathering of Nations (ends)


  • May 2023

    5/1 Purple star icon May Day (International Workers’ Day)
    5/4 Purple star icon National Day of Prayer
    5/4 Purple star icon National Day of Reason
    5/5 Red bar icon Cinco de Mayo (Mexican American)
    5/14 Blue circle Mother’s Day
    5/15 Purple star icon International Day for Families (UN)
    5/16 Purple star icon International Day of Living Together in Peace
    5/17 Purple star icon International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
    5/19 Red bar icon Vesak Buddha Day (Buddhist)
    5/19 Green Triangle icon Malcolm X Day
    5/21 Blue circle Multicultural Diversity Day
    5/21 Purple star icon World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
    5/22 Green Triangle icon Harvey Milk Day (LGBTQ/Civil Rights Activist)
    5/24 Red bar icon Declaration of the Bab (Baha’i)
    5/25 Red bar icon Shavout (Jewish)
    5/28 Purple star icon International Day of Action for Women’s Health
    5/29 Red bar icon Ascension of Baha’u’llah (Baha’i)
    5/29 Blue circle Memorial Day
    5/30 Purple star icon World Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Day


  • June 2023

    6/1 Purple star icon Global Day of Parents
    6/2 Blue circle Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (Native American)
    6/5 Purple star icon World Environment Day
    6/11 Blue circle Race Unity Day
    6/11 Blue circle National Puerto Rican Day Parade
    6/11 Blue circle National Children’s Day
    6/12 Blue circle Loving Day (Interracial Marriage anniversary)
    6/16 Red bar icon Martyrdom of Guru Arjan (Sikh)
    6/18 Purple star icon International Day for Countering Hate Speech
    6/19 Blue circle Father’s Day
    6/19 Blue circle Juneteenth
    6/20 Blue circle World Refugee Day
    6/21 Blue circle Summer Solstice
    6/21 Red bar icon Litha, Summer Solstice (Pagan)
    6/23 Purple star icon UN Public Service Day
    6/27 Green Triangle icon Helen Keller Day (Disability Rights Activist)
    6/28 Blue circle Christopher Street Liberation Day (Anniversary of Stonewall Riots/LGBT Civil Rights Movement)
    6/29 Red bar icon Eid-al-Adha (Islam)


  • July 2023

    7/2 Green Triangle icon Thurgood Marshall Birthday (Civil Rights Activist)
    7/3 Red bar icon Guru Pumima (Hindu)
    7/3Red bar icon Asla-Dharma Day (Buddhist)
    7/4 Blue circle Independence Day
    7/6 Green Triangle icon 14th Dalai Lama Birthday
    7/7 Red bar icon The Hajj (Islamic)
    7/9 Red bar icon Eid al-Adha (Islam)
    7/9 Red bar icon Martyrdom of the Bab (Baha’i)
    7/11 Purple star icon World Populace Day
    7/14 Purple star icon Bastille Day
    7/14 Purple star icon International Non-Binary People’s Day
    7/17 Purple star icon World Day of International Justice
    7/18 Green Triangle icon Nelson Mandela International Day
    7/18 Red bar icon Hijra- Islamic New Year (Islam)
    7/24 Red bar icon Pioneer Day (Mormon)
    7/25 Red bar icon Pioneer Day (Christian)
    7/26 Blue circle National Disability Independence Day
    7/28 Red bar icon Day of Ashura/Muharram (Islam)


  • August 2023

    8/4 Green Triangle icon Barack Obama Birthday (US 1st Black President)
    8/7 Blue circle Purple Heart Day
    8/9 Purple star icon International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (UN)
    8/13 Purple star icon Left Handers Day
    8/13 Red bar icon Obon (Buddhist)
    8/15 Red bar icon Feast of the Assumption (Christian)
    8/17 Green Triangle icon Marcus Garvey Day
    8/19 Purple star icon World Humanitarian Day
    8/21 Purple star icon Senior Citizens Day
    8/21 Red bar icon Nag Panchami (Hindu)
    8/22 Purple star icon International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
    8/23 Purple star icon International Day for the remembrances of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
    8/24 Green Triangle icon Marlee Matlin Day (People with Disabilities)
    8/26 Purple star icon Women’s Equality Day
    8/30 Red bar icon Raksha Bandhan (Hindu)
    8/30 Red bar icon Al-Hijri (Islamic)


  • September 2023

    9/4 Blue circle Labor Day
    9/5 Red bar icon International Day of Charity
    9/6 Red bar icon Shree Krishna Janamashtami (Hindu)
    9/8 Purple star icon Literacy Day (UN)
    9/10 Blue circle Grandparents Day
    9/11 Blue circle Patriot Day
    9/14 Red bar icon Holy Cross Day (Christian)
    9/15 Purple star icon International Day of Democracy
    9/15 Red bar icon Rosh Hashanah begins (Jewish)
    9/15 Red bar icon National Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month (begins)
    9/17 Blue circle Native American Citizenship Day
    9/17 Purple star icon World Patient Safety Day
    9/17 Red bar icon Rosh Hashanah ends (Jewish)
    9/18 Red bar icon Ganesha Chaturthi (Hindu)
    9/20 Purple star icon HeForShe (UN promoting gender equality)
    9/21 Purple star icon International Day of Peace
    9/21 Red bar icon Mabon (Pagan)
    9/21 Purple star icon World Gratitude Day
    9/22 black square Autumnal Equinox
    9/22 Blue circle National Native American Day
    9/22 Blue circle American Business Women’s Day
    9/23 Purple star icon International Day of Sign Languages
    9/24 Red bar icon Yom Kippur begins (Jewish)
    9/25 Red bar icon Yom Kippur ends (Jewish)
    9/26 Purple star icon European Day of Languages
    9/26 Red bar icon Mawlid al-Nabi
    9/27 Purple star icon World Tourism Day
    9/29 Red bar icon Sukkot begins (Jewish)
    9/30 Purple star icon International Translation Day


  • October 2023


    10/2 Green Triangle icon Mahatma Gandhi Birthday
    10/2 Purple star icon International Day of Nonviolence
    10/6 Red bar icon Shemini Atzaret/ Simchat Torah begins (Jewish)
    10/6 Red bar icon Sukkot ends (Jewish)
    10/7 Red bar icon Shemini Atzaret/ Simchat Torah ends (Jewish)
    10/9 Red bar icon Milad un Nabi (Islam)
    10/9 Purple star icon National Indigenous Peoples’ Day
    10/10 Purple star icon World Mental Health Day
    10/11 Blue circle National Coming Out Day (LGBTQIA+)
    10/12 Purple star icon US Free Thought Day
    10/12 Purple star icon World Sight Day
    10/15 Red bar icon Navratri Begins (Hindu)
    10/15 Blue circle White Cane Safety Day (Blind Awareness)
    10/16 Blue circle Bosses Day
    10/16 Purple star icon World Food Day
    10/16 Red bar icon Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
    10/16 Purple star icon Waste Reduction Week
    10/17 Purple star icon International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
    10/17 Red bar icon Birth of the Bab (Baha’i)
    10/19 Blue circle Spirit Day (LGBTQIA+ anti-bullying)
    10/17 Purple star icon International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
    10/20 Red bar icon Sikh Holy Day (birth of Guru Granth)
    10/22 Purple star icon International Stuttering Awareness Day
    10/24 Red bar icon Dusshera (Hindu)
    10/25 Green Triangle icon Larry Itliong Day
    10/29 Blue circle National Organization for Women (NOW)
    10/31 Blue circle Halloween
    10/31 Red bar icon Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead begins)


  • November 2023

    11/1 Red bar icon All Saints’ Day (Christian)
    11/2 Blue circle National Stress Awareness Day
    11/2 Red bar icon All Souls Day
    11/2 Red bar icon Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead ends)
    11/9 Purple star icon World Freedom Day
    11/9 Purple star icon World Adoption Day
    11/10 Purple star icon World Science Day for Peace and Development
    11/11 Blue circle Veterans Day
    11/12 Red bar icon Birth of Bah’u’llah (Baha’i)
    11/12 Red bar icon Deepawali (Diwali) (Hindu)
    11/13 Purple star icon World Kindness Day
    11/16 Blue circle Dutch American Heritage Day
    11/16 Purple star icon International Day for Tolerance (UN)
    11/19 Purple star icon International Men’s Day
    11/20 Purple star icon Transgender Day of Remembrance
    11/20 Purple star icon Universal Children’s Day (UN)
    11/23 Blue circle Thanksgiving Day
    11/24 Red bar icon Martydom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (Sikh)
    11/25 Purple star icon International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
    11/26 Red bar icon Day of the Covenant (Baha’i)
    11/27 Red bar icon Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti (Sikh)
    11/28 Red bar icon Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i)


  • December 2023

    12/1 Purple star icon Worlds Aids Day
    12/3 Purple star icon International Day of Persons with Disabilities
    12/3 Red bar icon Advent (Christian)
    12/5 Purple star icon International Volunteer Day
    12/7 Blue circle Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
    12/7 Red bar icon Hanukkah begins (Jewish)
    12/8 Red bar icon Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
    12/9 Purple star icon International Genocide Prevention Day
    12/10 Purple star icon International Human Rights Day
    12/12 Red bar icon Our Lady of Guadalupe- Feast Day (Christian)
    12/15 Red bar icon Guru Gobind Singh Guryai  (Sikh)
    12/15 Red bar icon Hanukkah ends (Jewish)
    12/16 Red bar icon Las Posadas begins (Mexican)
    12/18 Purple star icon International Migrants Day
    12/21 Red bar icon Yule Winter Solstice (Pagan)
    12/22 Red bar icon Geeta Jayanti (Hindu)
    12/24 Blue circle Christmas Eve (Christian)
    12/24 Red bar icon Las Posadas ends (Mexican)
    12/25 Blue circle Christmas Day
    12/26 Blue circle Kwanzaa
    12/31 Blue circle 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.