It’s officially 2023.
And that means comms and marketing people will be sitting down at their desks this week to plan the next 12 months of content, newsletters, social media posts, scripts, speeches, press releases and reports.
Awareness-raising days and months, celebrations and religious festivals can help inspire campaigns, activism, thought leadership and reflection.
To help I’ve put together a list (see below) and a free downloadable Google calendar of the equality, diversity and inclusion dates you’ll need for 2023. If I’ve missed anything please do let me know!
REMEMBER: Awareness-raising days can be useful points in time to reflect, remember or celebrate, but to be genuinely inclusive organisations must embed a long-term EDI strategy into their cultures.
Action > words. Always.
How to make the most of the calendar:
- Download here or copy and paste the list below. Here’s a useful guide on how to add a Google calendar.
- Define your why – ask yourself why am I running this campaign, what does “good” look like AND does what you’re planning reflect your organisation’s culture?
- Set goals and review progress regularly – how many times a week will you post? How many blogs will you write? What formats? How many times do you want to be featured in the press?
- Create a content calendar, I use Google Spreadsheets and Notion, and map out the days, months, copy & assets for a whole year.
- Start planning! Give yourself a week to flesh it out and remember to be flexible, this is just a plan things will change throughout the year.
OR if you need any support with your communication planning for 2023, please do email me at emily@morediversevoices.com or book a meeting here.
January
- World Braille Day – January 4
- Blue Monday – January 16
- World Religion Day – January 15
- Lunar New Year / Chinese New Year – January 22
- International Day of Education – January 24
- Holocaust Memorial Day – January 27
February
- LGBTQIA+ History Month – February 1 – 28
- Time to Talk Day – February 2
- World Cancer Day – February 4
- UK Race Equality Week – February 6
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science – February 11
- Random Acts of Kindness Day – February 17
- World Day of Social Justice – February 20
March
- Zero Discrimination Day – March 1
- International Women’s Day – March 8
- Neurodiversity Celebration Week – March 13 – 17
- International Day of Happiness – March 20
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – March 21
- Ramadan (Muslim) – March 23
- Trans Day of Visibility – March 31
April
- Autism Awareness Month – April 1 -30
- Stress Awareness Month – April 1 – 30
- World Autism Day – April 2
- World Health Day – April 7
- Easter Sunday (Christian) – April 9
- Earth Day – April 22
- Global Intergenerational Week – April 24 – 28
May
- Deaf Awareness Week – May 1 – 5
- Black Inclusion Week – May 8 – 12
- Coronation of King Charles III – May 6
- Tourette’s Awareness Month – 15 May – 15 June
- International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) – May 17
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day – May 18
- George Floyd’s Anniversary – May 25
June
- Pride Month – June 1 – 30
- Volunteers’ Week – June 1
- Autistic Pride Day – June 18
- Learning Disability Week – June 19 – 23
- World Refugee Day – June 20
- World Humanist Day – June 21
- International Women in Engineering Day – June 23
- World Wellbeing Week – June 26 – 30
- Eid ul-Adha (Muslim) – June 28
July
- Disability Pride Month – July 1 – 31
- International Non-Binary Persons Day – July 14
- World Day Against Trafficking in Persons – July 30
August
- International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – August 9
- World Humanitarian Day – August 19
- International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism – August 21
- International Day of Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition – August 23
- Grief Awareness Day – August 30
September
- National Food Bank Day – September 1
- East and South East Asian Heritage month – September 1 – 30
- International Day of Charity – September 5
- World Suicide Prevention Day – September 10
- International Equal Pay Day – September 18
- Bi-Visibility Day – September 23
- International Day of Sign Language – September 23
- Yom Kippur (Jewish) – September 24
- National Inclusion Week – September 25 -29
October
- Black History Month – 1 October – 31
- Global Diversity Awareness Month – 1 October – 31
- ADHD Awareness Month – October 1 – 31
- International Day of Older Persons – October 1
- Dwarfism Awareness Month – October 1 -31
- World Mental Health Day – October 10
- National Coming Out Day – October 11
- World Menopause Day – October 18
- National Mentoring Day – October 27
- Intersex Awareness Day – October 26
November
- Movember Men’s Health Awareness Month – November 1 – 30
- Islamophobia Awareness Month – November 1 – 30
- Diwali (Hindu) – November 12
- Transgender Awareness Week – November 13 – 19
- International Men’s Day – November 19
- Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20
December
- Universal Month for Human Rights – December 1
- World AIDS Day – December 1
- Small Business Saturday – December 2
- International Day of Persons with Disabilities – December 3
- Human Rights Day – December 10
- International Human Solidarity Day – December 20th
- Hanukah (Jewish) – December 7
- Christmas (Christian) – December 25
Download the free Google calendar here.