This article aims to investigate the difficulties that the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology face in applying corporate governance to improve the effective and transparent control of public management. The article presents an empirical research carried out with 37 institutes. The article proposes a set of well-defined processes to support the implementation of corporate governance. The proposed processes are based on good practices disseminated in the literature and the market, aiming to meet the specific needs of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology. This article uses the Design Science Research method to investigate corporate governance practices. Initially, a study of the literature on corporate governance was carried out. Then, a survey was applied to 37 Federal Institutes, in order to identify the difficulties and lessons learned for governance improvement Four systematic processes were designed to support the implementation of corporate governance in Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology. The processes were validated in the context of an institute that aims to improve its governance practices. As theoretical/methodological contributions, processes were proposed that aim to raise awareness of the importance of corporate governance in public bodies, especially in Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology. The article presents contributions to the sustainability of good corporate governance, focused on effectiveness, transparency and integration of information related to management processes in public organizations.