Keeping track of all the holidays your people celebrate can be tricky. That’s why we’re creating lists for each month of the year that include the most commonly celebrated holidays along with DE&I-specific celebrations and awareness opportunities.

Click here to download our one-page 2023 DEI Holiday & Observances in the U.S. Calendar.

Note, that this is a predominantly U.S.-based list, because Electives is a U.S.-based company. If there is a holiday that we should add to our list, please email us to let us know!

Do you want to receive blog posts like this in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to Electives news.

Month-long celebrations during January include:

The poverty rate was 11.4% in the U.S. in 2020, according to Poverty USA. That means 37 million people had earnings below the poverty threshold, which is $25,700 for a family of 4. Poverty in America Awareness Month reminds us to think about those who are struggling to put food on the table and take action to minimize poverty in America.

Proximate Justice: Speaking truths, seeking justice and reconciliation will encourage courageous and deeply real conversations about race, class and justice in your company and in your town.

During National Mentoring Month, we are all encouraged to raise awareness “for how one conversation, one experience and one mentor can change a young person’s life,” according to Mentor, a nonprofit that is “connecting and fueling opportunity for young people everywhere they are from schools to workplaces and beyond.”

Mentors, Sponsors & Networks: Maximizing the benefits of important workplace relationships takes the mentoring conversation to the adult world. During this interactive, high-energy Electives class, participants learn how to serve as effective mentors, mentees, sponsors, proteges and more.

Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month

21 million people are victims of forced labor around the world, and 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In January, the DoD works to raise awareness of “this horrendous crime against humanity” and to educate on the signs of trafficking and the actions to take if trafficking is suspected. The Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) division of the DoD published stories of human trafficking survivors that can be shared with teams alongside other CTIP resource materials.

Additional holidays during January include:

Celebrated the first day of the new year, New Year’s Day is a day when many set resolutions and goals for the year ahead. Schedule goal-setting Electives classes early in the year to capitalize on the resolution mindset of your people.

Crushing Your Goals: A systematic approach to great achievement teaches the SMART goal framework, goal hierarchies, micro-goals and more.

Setting Up A Winning 2023: The goal setting game plan that sticks taps into the mindset and methodology of an athlete for effective goal setting, intention and balance.

Introverts are often misunderstood, and World Introvert Day is here to change that. While we should not seek to change introverts, we need to understand that they may think and act differently than extroverts. And that’s okay.

Public Speaking For Introverts: How to practice, what to say and how to say it is an “on your feet” workshop that teaches proven techniques designed to engage an audience with confidence, clarity and warmth.

Celebrated since 2019, World Braille Day is an international holiday designed to raise awareness of our blind populations and “the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people.”

The orthodox churches of Egypt, Russia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Ukraine celebrate Christmas on a different day than what most of us consider “Christmas Day.” Celebrations often include gathering family and Christmas Mass that ends at midnight and breaks the 43-day vegan-pescatarian fast, leading into a late-night holiday feast.

Celebrated the second Monday of January each year, National Clean Off Your Desk Day is a great day to create a clean slate, whether literally (on our desks) or figuratively (in our minds).

Build Innovation Mindset: Turn challenges into opportunities is an Electives class that can help you and your team play into the figurative “clean off your desk” idea while encouraging an innovation mindset that helps embrace change, seek new connections and create fresh solutions.

The Blue Campaign, from the Department of Homeland Services, turned Human Trafficking Awareness Day into #WearBlueDay to raise awareness of human trafficking.

Created to recognize and honor the contributions of the Korean American Community, this holiday resolution was passed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate and House in 2005.

The Orthodox New Year celebrates the first day of the year on the Julian calendar. Although the Gregorian calendar is the most commonly used calendar across the world now, Orthodox New Year is popularly celebrated by Orthodox individuals and families.

On World Religion Day, people of different faiths are encouraged to learn more about each other and their beliefs. Interfaith events on World Religion Day seek to unite through common values.

Tough Talk Across Differences: Planning and leading difficult conversations across cultures and countries is an Electives class designed to help teams embrace and overcome misunderstandings, tensions and conflicts. This is a highly thought-provoking and interactive Elective designed to give participants the basic knowledge, tools and skills to lead difficult conversations with anyone, anywhere in the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day / Civil Rights Day

Observed on the 3rd Monday in January to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and recognize his impact across the U.S. and the world, MLK Day is designated as a “national day of service.” In fact, MLK Day is the only federal holiday with this designation. On MLK Day, also called Civil Rights Day since 1999, we’re all encouraged to learn, connect and take action to improve our communities.

Understanding Racism: A deconstruction of race in the Western World that will change your outlook forever is a 2 ½ hour interactive session on what racism really is and isn’t. During this class, participants discuss the surprising ways racism manifests, the psychological underpinnings of why racism is so difficult to eradicate and what everyone can do to influence things for the better.

If you Google “National Hugging Day,” you’ll see results that question whether or not this holiday is real. But, we don’t really care if it’s real or not. It sounds like a pretty awesome day, and we choose to celebrate. National Hugging Day encourages us to practice compassion and empathy, and to show people that we care.

Empathetic Leadership: Building a culture of compassion is the perfect class to bring to your team on National Hugging Day. Today’s workforce is seeking employers and leaders that show they care about their people. This Elective teaches the steps to build a culture of empathy that will produce a stronger workplace, more productive teams and a healthier workforce.

Celebrating the new year across many East and Southeast Asian cultures, Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays of the year for some families and communities. The timing of Lunar New Year is tied to the lunar calendar, commencing with the 1st new moon of the year and ending with the 1st full moon. In Chinese culture, preparations called “Little Year” begin prior to the beginning of Lunar New Year (also called Spring Festival) and the festivities conclude with the Lantern Festival. 2023 will be the year of the rabbit.

Although not focused on Lunar New Year, Allyship: How to support the AAPI community is one of our recommended Electives classes to bring to your team during January. Since the start of the pandemic Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have experienced increasing levels of discrimination, hate and unthinkable violence. To help create understanding and allyship, this Elective explains common micro-aggressions toward AAPI workers, the impact of these actions, how these behaviors can be challenged in the workplace and how everyone can be an ally for their AAPI and the community at large.

Roe v. Wade Day / Celebration of Life Day

In response to the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, it may be safe to assume that emotions could be running high on both sides of the aisle this year on January 22 when both Roe v. Wade Day and Celebration of Life Day occur.

Rethinking Leadership: What leaders need now provides insights, tools and techniques on how to be an effective leader during radically uncertain times. During this Elective, participants will be given tools and techniques for identifying the gains and losses associated with new realities and methods for working with the constituents affected.

The Power Of Inclusive Conversation: Challenging dialogue across differences is an Electives class with a goal of equipping participants with the necessary understanding and experience to successfully engage in an inclusive conversation. Participants explore the factors that influence the success or failure of inclusive conversations, including culture, power dynamics and conflict styles.

“Transforming the future requires an urgent rebalancing of our relationships with each other, with nature as well as with technology that permeates our lives, bearing breakthrough opportunities while raising serious concerns for equity, inclusion and democratic participation.” This quote is within the UNESCO Futures of Education report, published in 2021, and International Day of Education is a U.N.-sponsored initiative intended to bring awareness to the human right of education.

Lifelong Learning: How to embrace reading and journaling as career rocketfuel is an Elective designed to whet the appetite for learning. Going beyond superficial “read more” and “journal daily” type encouragement, this class provides tactical ways to help participants carve out more time for learning, take better notes as they read and apply what they’re learning to their daily lives.

January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of Aushchwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration camp of the Holocaust, so the U.N. designated this day to be an annual day of commemoration. On the International Holocaust Day of Remembrance, people around the world are encouraged to reflect and honor the victims of the Holocaust, to learn about genocide and to take action to create programs that help prevent genocide in the future.

Cinema With A Cause: The call for social justice uses American movies to demonstrate how individuals can champion social causes with a vengeance. Making an indelible impact on American life, movies chronicle the lack of fairness and the overt dereliction of duty regarding the breakdown of our criminal justice systems to safeguard equal treatment and protection for all.

Do you want to bring any of our recommended Electives classes to your team? Reach out to the Electives team.

The Electives Library of Live Learning is stocked with classes that are inclusive, experiential, impactful and unforgettable. Click here to find the Electives classes that fit your unique learning objectives.



Keeping track of all the holidays your people celebrate can be tricky. That’s why we’re creating lists for each month of the year that include the most commonly celebrated holidays along with DE&I-specific celebrations and awareness opportunities.

Click here to download our one-page 2023 DEI Holiday & Observances in the U.S. Calendar.

Note, that this is a predominantly U.S.-based list, because Electives is a U.S.-based company. If there is a holiday that we should add to our list, please email us to let us know!


Do you want to receive blog posts like this in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to Electives news.


Month-long celebrations during January include:

Poverty in America Awareness Month
The poverty rate was 11.4% in the U.S. in 2020, according to Poverty USA. That means 37 million people had earnings below the poverty threshold, which is $25,700 for a family of 4. Poverty in America Awareness Month reminds us to think about those who are struggling to put food on the table and take action to minimize poverty in America.
Proximate Justice: Speaking truths, seeking justice and reconciliation will encourage courageous and deeply real conversations about race, class and justice in your company and in your town.
National Mentoring Month
During National Mentoring Month, we are all encouraged to raise awareness “for how one conversation, one experience and one mentor can change a young person’s life,” according to Mentor, a nonprofit that is “connecting and fueling opportunity for young people everywhere they are from schools to workplaces and beyond.”
Mentors, Sponsors & Networks: Maximizing the benefits of important workplace relationships takes the mentoring conversation to the adult world. During this interactive, high-energy Electives class, participants learn how to serve as effective mentors, mentees, sponsors, proteges and more.
Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month
21 million people are victims of forced labor around the world, and 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In January, the DoD works to raise awareness of “this horrendous crime against humanity” and to educate on the signs of trafficking and the actions to take if trafficking is suspected. The Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) division of the DoD published stories of human trafficking survivors that can be shared with teams alongside other CTIP resource materials.


Additional holidays during January include:

January 1st (observed on January 2nd)
New Year’s Day
Celebrated the first day of the new year, New Year’s Day is a day when many set resolutions and goals for the year ahead. Schedule goal-setting Electives classes early in the year to capitalize on the resolution mindset of your people.
Crushing Your Goals: A systematic approach to great achievement teaches the SMART goal framework, goal hierarchies, micro-goals and more.
Setting Up A Winning 2023: The goal setting game plan that sticks taps into the mindset and methodology of an athlete for effective goal setting, intention and balance.
January 2nd
World Introvert Day
Introverts are often misunderstood, and World Introvert Day is here to change that. While we should not seek to change introverts, we need to understand that they may think and act differently than extroverts. And that’s okay.
Public Speaking For Introverts: How to practice, what to say and how to say it is an “on your feet” workshop that teaches proven techniques designed to engage an audience with confidence, clarity and warmth.
January 4th
World Braille Day
Celebrated since 2019, World Braille Day is an international holiday designed to raise awareness of our blind populations and “the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people.”

January 7th
Coptic / Orthodox Christmas
The orthodox churches of Egypt, Russia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Ukraine celebrate Christmas on a different day than what most of us consider “Christmas Day.” Celebrations often include gathering family and Christmas Mass that ends at midnight and breaks the 43-day vegan-pescatarian fast, leading into a late-night holiday feast.

January 9th
National Clean Off Your Desk Day
Celebrated the second Monday of January each year, National Clean Off Your Desk Day is a great day to create a clean slate, whether literally (on our desks) or figuratively (in our minds).
Build Innovation Mindset: Turn challenges into opportunities is an Electives class that can help you and your team play into the figurative “clean off your desk” idea while encouraging an innovation mindset that helps embrace change, seek new connections and create fresh solutions.
January 11th
Human Trafficking Awareness Day
The Blue Campaign, from the Department of Homeland Services, turned Human Trafficking Awareness Day into #WearBlueDay to raise awareness of human trafficking.

January 13th
Korean American Day
Created to recognize and honor the contributions of the Korean American Community, this holiday resolution was passed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate and House in 2005.

January 14th
Orthodox New Year / Old New Year
The Orthodox New Year celebrates the first day of the year on the Julian calendar. Although the Gregorian calendar is the most commonly used calendar across the world now, Orthodox New Year is popularly celebrated by Orthodox individuals and families.

January 15th
World Religion Day
On World Religion Day, people of different faiths are encouraged to learn more about each other and their beliefs. Interfaith events on World Religion Day seek to unite through common values.
Tough Talk Across Differences: Planning and leading difficult conversations across cultures and countries is an Electives class designed to help teams embrace and overcome misunderstandings, tensions and conflicts. This is a highly thought-provoking and interactive Elective designed to give participants the basic knowledge, tools and skills to lead difficult conversations with anyone, anywhere in the world.
January 16th
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day / Civil Rights Day
Observed on the 3rd Monday in January to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and recognize his impact across the U.S. and the world, MLK Day is designated as a “national day of service.” In fact, MLK Day is the only federal holiday with this designation. On MLK Day, also called Civil Rights Day since 1999, we’re all encouraged to learn, connect and take action to improve our communities.
Understanding Racism: A deconstruction of race in the Western World that will change your outlook forever is a 2 ½ hour interactive session on what racism really is and isn’t. During this class, participants discuss the surprising ways racism manifests, the psychological underpinnings of why racism is so difficult to eradicate and what everyone can do to influence things for the better.
January 21st
National Hugging Day
If you Google “National Hugging Day,” you’ll see results that question whether or not this holiday is real. But, we don’t really care if it’s real or not. It sounds like a pretty awesome day, and we choose to celebrate. National Hugging Day encourages us to practice compassion and empathy, and to show people that we care.
Empathetic Leadership: Building a culture of compassion is the perfect class to bring to your team on National Hugging Day. Today’s workforce is seeking employers and leaders that show they care about their people. This Elective teaches the steps to build a culture of empathy that will produce a stronger workplace, more productive teams and a healthier workforce.
January 22nd - February 5th
Lunar New Year
Celebrating the new year across many East and Southeast Asian cultures, Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays of the year for some families and communities. The timing of Lunar New Year is tied to the lunar calendar, commencing with the 1st new moon of the year and ending with the 1st full moon. In Chinese culture, preparations called “Little Year” begin prior to the beginning of Lunar New Year (also called Spring Festival) and the festivities conclude with the Lantern Festival. 2023 will be the year of the rabbit.
Although not focused on Lunar New Year, Allyship: How to support the AAPI community is one of our recommended Electives classes to bring to your team during January. Since the start of the pandemic Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have experienced increasing levels of discrimination, hate and unthinkable violence. To help create understanding and allyship, this Elective explains common micro-aggressions toward AAPI workers, the impact of these actions, how these behaviors can be challenged in the workplace and how everyone can be an ally for their AAPI and the community at large.
January 22nd
Roe v. Wade Day / Celebration of Life Day
In response to the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, it may be safe to assume that emotions could be running high on both sides of the aisle this year on January 22 when both Roe v. Wade Day and Celebration of Life Day occur.
Rethinking Leadership: What leaders need now provides insights, tools and techniques on how to be an effective leader during radically uncertain times. During this Elective, participants will be given tools and techniques for identifying the gains and losses associated with new realities and methods for working with the constituents affected.
The Power Of Inclusive Conversation: Challenging dialogue across differences is an Electives class with a goal of equipping participants with the necessary understanding and experience to successfully engage in an inclusive conversation. Participants explore the factors that influence the success or failure of inclusive conversations, including culture, power dynamics and conflict styles.
January 24th
International Day of Education
“Transforming the future requires an urgent rebalancing of our relationships with each other, with nature as well as with technology that permeates our lives, bearing breakthrough opportunities while raising serious concerns for equity, inclusion and democratic participation.” This quote is within the UNESCO Futures of Education report, published in 2021, and International Day of Education is a U.N.-sponsored initiative intended to bring awareness to the human right of education.
Lifelong Learning: How to embrace reading and journaling as career rocketfuel is an Elective designed to whet the appetite for learning. Going beyond superficial “read more” and “journal daily” type encouragement, this class provides tactical ways to help participants carve out more time for learning, take better notes as they read and apply what they’re learning to their daily lives.
January 27th
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of Aushchwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration camp of the Holocaust, so the U.N. designated this day to be an annual day of commemoration. On the International Holocaust Day of Remembrance, people around the world are encouraged to reflect and honor the victims of the Holocaust, to learn about genocide and to take action to create programs that help prevent genocide in the future.
Cinema With A Cause: The call for social justice uses American movies to demonstrate how individuals can champion social causes with a vengeance. Making an indelible impact on American life, movies chronicle the lack of fairness and the overt dereliction of duty regarding the breakdown of our criminal justice systems to safeguard equal treatment and protection for all.

Do you want to bring any of our recommended Electives classes to your team? Reach out to the Electives team.

The Electives Library of Live Learning is stocked with classes that are inclusive, experiential, impactful and unforgettable. Click here to find the Electives classes that fit your unique learning objectives.


Do you want to receive blog posts like this in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to Electives news.


Click here to download our one-page 2023 DEI Holiday & Observances in the U.S. Calendar.

CALL TO ACTION

We’re creating lists for each month of the year that include the most commonly celebrated holidays along with DE&I-specific celebrations and awareness opportunities.


DEI holidays to celebrate in January 2023

Wed Dec 07 2022

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