Brazil Mandates 30% Women Representation on Corporate Boards

Brazil has enacted Law No. 15,177/2025, a measure requiring at least 30% of board seats to be held by women. The law applies to public companies, mixed-capital enterprises, and their subsidiaries, positioning Brazil the first in legislating gender and racial inclusion at the highest levels of corporate governance. The Law came into effect on the date of its publication, July 24, 2025.

HR Policy Global’s Take: While the law primarily affects companies with local Brazilian boards, it’s an important development for global employers to track. U.S. companies with Brazilian subsidiaries subject to board requirements will need to plan for compliance and visibility.

What the Law Requires

• 30% of board seats must be held by women.
  
  
• Of those women, 30% must be Black women and/or women with disabilities, introducing a rare intersectional standard.
  
  
• The quota will be phased in across three election cycles:
  1. 10% women in the first election after the law takes effect.
  2. 20% in the second.
  3. 30% by the third.
     
     
• Noncompliant boards may lose the ability to pass corporate resolutions.

The measure is part of Brazil’s broader agenda to promote workplace equality, following its new pay transparency reporting requirements.

A Divided Global Landscape

This reform also highlights a growing divide in board diversity regulation. While Brazil, Europe, and parts of Asia move toward mandatory quotas, United States continue to rely on voluntary or market-driven approaches after federal diversity rules were struck down.

For global HR and governance teams, understanding these divergent trends is essential to maintaining coherent diversity strategies across jurisdictions.

Bottom line: Brazil’s 30% board quota marks a historic shift in Latin America—and signals that inclusion at the top is becoming a global governance hot topic, even if the regulatory paths differ.