How to do it:

Begin with some cultural calendaring: identify important dates for the people who live in your community. Those might be religious, like Ramadan or the High Holidays, or they might be cultural, like Juneteenth. If you are in a position to schedule meetings, tests, or other required group activities, invite anonymous notes about accommodations people would appreciate. You can use a shoebox in a quiet corner, or create an online form to protect identity. Then take action to make those employees feel seen. Most minority workers and students are grateful for even partial efforts. Try these ideas:

• take important dates into account when scheduling shifts, meetings, and team activities
• ask for volunteers to cover shifts for key dates, as Jewish and Muslim workers often do on Christmas in essential roles.
• look for small accommodations, like scheduling meal breaks for Muslim workers timed to Iftar during Ramadan, or letting Jewish employees leave a little early during Hannukah
• foster a culture where employees feel empowered to trade days around simple things like a family BBQ or wedding — not everything has to have a religious mandate to matter!
• If you decorate for holidays, make the decorations truly non-denominational, or include a variety of symbols and observances
• If you aren’t in a position to make systemic changes, you can still offer to cover a shift for a colleague, or speak up for inclusion to bosses who are in that position.