The goal of this dissertation is to examine the possibility that diversity and affirmative action policies can open up the private sector to the Afro-Brazilian population. Global diversity and affirmative action are approached from an anthropological perspective that takes into account the U.S.-Brazil exceptionalisms in race relations, on the one thand, and how transnational corporations, mainly U.S. based corporations, export their diversity and affirmative action policies to their Brazilian subsidiaries, on the other hand. A combination of global ethnography and interpretive policy analysis is used to document how managers, consultants, and activists implement these policies in a network of private enterprises located in Sao Paulo. Given the voluntary nature and fragmented character of the actions and the limited authority that the managers implementing the policies have, particularly when the policies are disseminated as mimetic practices or management fads, the study concludes that these circumstances very much limit the possibilities that diversity and affirmative action will result in significant socio-economic openings for black people in Brazil.