January is around the corner and this is a chance to make sure we can build in belonging all year by starting strong.
REMEMBER: Don’t get caught up in commemorative months and individual events; your best work is in building relationships, fostering community, and creating a sense of belonging. Each of these suggested events is meant to further your overall institutional goals and keep equity and inclusion top of mind for your community, but no one event or celebration puts the “DONE” stamp on your DEI efforts. Start to plan at least a couple of months in advance, giving ample time for community feedback and collaboration.
Awareness Months
- Poverty Awareness Month
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month
- National Blood Donor Month
- National Mentoring Month
- National Braille Literacy Month
Special Days and Celebrations
- New Year’s Day (1)
- World Braille Day (4)
- World Religion Day (19)
- MLK Jr Day (20)
- International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27)
- Lunar New Year (29)
Ideas for Implementation
Start a 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge. Here’s an extensive guide to doing it as a group.
Host Shay Stewart-Bouley’s talk, Authentic Dialogues: Talking about Racism and Moving to Action.
Launch a mentorship program to build a diverse pipeline to leadership.
If your community is a school, a project around poverty can be eye-opening, and doable at any academic or developmental level: empathy building, research projects, collaborative presentations, and volunteer projects are all possible approaches to marking Poverty Awareness Month.
Depending on your community, reach out to your local American Red Cross or other blood donation entity to host a blood drive.
If your community is a school or library, do an inventory of how many Braille print books you have. Make Braille education available to anyone in your community.
Lunar New Year is at the end of the month. Are there members of your community who need time off to celebrate?
Start planning your March & April events: gather ideas for a Women’s Month film series, seek out recipes for Nutrition Month, or reach out to local yoga and mindfulness instructors for Stress Awareness Month
Leave a Reply