Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros

In November of 2024, Tarciana Gomes Medeiros, CEO of the Banco do Brasil, acknowledged the bank’s role in the country’s 19th-century slave trade, offering Black Brazilians an apology that was historic for more than one reason: Medeiros herself is Black, and is also the first woman to run the 213-year-old institution. An openly gay leader, she has broken the mold for CEOs at the state-controlled bank. She has also emphasized supporting and lending money to diverse groups as part of her strategy for growth. 

The CEO is tasked with balancing the bank’s core focus on agribusinesses while expanding its consumer products, and she has made strong choices. Despite rising macroeconomic challenges, like inflation, the bank recently adjusted its expectations for net profits upwards, to between $6.5 and $7.2 billion for 2025, compared to $6.3 billion last year, though it subsequently put those numbers under review.