Grace Maria Fernandes Mendonça is the current attorney general of Brazil (AGU) and is the first woman to hold that position. Some of her most important work in this position include the binding opinion that guaranteed adopting mothers the same maternity leave as pregnant women, as well as limitations to the right to strike by federal public servants. She also helped to draft a decree to regulate the law of mediation and the Institution's action to judicially guarantee the debate on political reforms. She acted in the guarantee of the concession of ports and airports, as well as in the scope of the electric and petroleum sector, which was critical to Brazil’s renewed economic growth. Fernandes Mendonça has worked for the AGU since 2001, as the general coordinator (2001-2002), assistant attorney general (2002-2003), and most recently as the head of litigation (2003-2016), the body responsible for representing the federal government before the Supreme Federal Court. In this position Fernandes Mendonça won multiple important victories defending the federal government and relevant public policies. She also presented oral arguments before the Supreme Court in more than 75 cases, including the defense of the constitutionality of the Maria da Penha Law, which strictly criminalized violence against women in Brazil and she acted in cases related to the debts of the states and the mini electoral reform. Fernandes Mendonça also defended the obligation of private schools to accept disabled students. In addition to her work at the AGU, she was a professor at the Catholic University of Brasilia for over ten years (2002-2015), and prior to joining the AGU, she served as an advisor to the deputy attorney general of the republic (1995-2001), and as the attorney for the Brasília Development Company (1992-1995). Fernandes Mendonça holds a master’s degree in constitutional law and is a specialist in civil procedural law.