Gorom Association

🌱 SEED Success Stories — Chapter 2

What happens when cross-cultural teamwork becomes the foundation of an international creative career?

Meet Mayara Lana Gouveia Silva, Production Coordinator at Coala Filmes and SEED 2023 alumna from FAAP 🇧🇷

After completing the SEED program, Mayara built a remarkable path in film production — first working as a producer at 44 Toons, one of Brazil’s largest animation studios, and later joining Coala Filmes, one of the world’s most experienced stop-motion studios.

Today, her work connects creative teams across Uruguay, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil — turning international collaboration into part of her daily practice.

The communication skills, global mindset, and teamwork experience she developed through SEED continue to shape the way she coordinates people, cultures, and creative processes across borders.

✨ From SEED to international co-productions, Mayara’s story reminds us how powerful intercultural learning can be.

More stories are coming.
Follow along as we celebrate the changemakers inside our SEED family!

StopMotion InternationalCollaboration Brazil FAAP

🌱 Introducing SEED Success Stories — Chapter 1

What happens when a rural student realizes they have the power to change their community?

Meet Juan Alejandro Rodriguez Vargas, Founder of Go Escuela and SEED 2024 alumnus from Universidad del Rosario 🇨🇴

After completing the SEED program, Juan turned his experience into action — launching RURALAB, a social edtech initiative transforming education in rural communities across Colombia.

The international network, the cross-cultural teamwork, the study tour in Japan — all of it shaped the leader he is today.

This is just the beginning. More stories are coming.
✨ Follow along as we celebrate the changemakers inside our SEED family!

GoROM UniversidadDelRosario

In this post we would like to answer two questions that in this applications period we have been frequently receiving.

🇦🇷Big news from Argentina! This week, GOROM Association CEO Mr. Goro Mutsuura traveled from Japan to Argentina to meet our SEED community and share what this program is building together.

His first stop was the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, where he reunited with our SEED 2025 alumni — students who spent time in Japan deepening their knowledge in SDGs, social entrepreneurship, and pitching skills — alongside professors and university staff.

From there, he traveled to Rosario for an informational event at Austral University, where students and faculty learned about the program and heard directly about its impact from those who experienced it.

The journey continued at Austral University located in Pilar, Buenos Aires, where alumni from previous SEED editions joined a room full of students seriously considering applying this year. Spoiler: the energy in the room was contagious. 🎌

To close out the week, Mr. Mutsuura and a group of alumni from both universities visited the Japanese Embassy in Argentina to present the program’s results and strengthen the collaboration between Latin America and Japan.

One week, three cities, and a lot of conversations about what it means to grow as a leader. Are you next? 🌱

YouthLeadership

Now that the universities participating in SEED 2026 have opened their application periods for our program, we’d like to share this information with you, which we recommend you keep in mind for submitting your application🌱

Would you like to travel to Japan and participate in a social entrepreneurship program through a partial scholarship? ✈️🇯🇵

We invite you to participate in our promotional events next week in Medellín (EAFIT University - February 26) and Bogotá (Rosario University and University of the Andes - February 25).

The president of the GOROM Association will be present, as well as alumni from each city, to tell you about their experiences and provide details on how to apply. We hope to see you there!

On November 7th, we had a joint session with students from Meiji University in Japan 🇯🇵, along with a cultural orientation led by American students from Florida International University who previously lived in Japan.

The session began with Meiji University students organizing SEED 2025 participants into four cultural groups—each themed around Music, Food, Festivals, and Daily Life. Through this exchange, participants from across Latin America and the U.S. shared traditions, flavors, and perspectives from their own countries 🎶🍱

We then welcomed our guest speakers, Daniela Figueroa and Cori Hallock from FIU, who shared their experiences living in Japan from a Western perspective. They offered valuable insights into topics like clothing etiquette, communication styles, and cultural listening—helping prepare our SEED 2025 members for their upcoming Study Tour in Japan this December 🇯🇵✨.

Every voice, every story, and every question in this session brought us one step closer to understanding Japan not only as a destination, but as an experience of connection and learning 🌸🚀.

SEED Stories: Global Spotlights — Japan Fes Florida 2025 🇯🇵🌴

This story comes from Sofia Lopes Rodrigues, SEED 2025 participant from Florida International University (FIU), who attended the Japan Fes Florida at Indian Beach Park in Miami.
Bringing together local residents and Japanese communities, the festival celebrated Japan’s culture through food, art, music, and traditional games—creating a space of joy, discovery, and cultural exchange. 🌸✨

SEED Stories: Global Spotlights — Visit to the Japan Center at Universidad de Los Andes 🇯🇵🎓

This week, María Camila Romero, SEED 2025 participant from Universidad del Rosario (Colombia), shares her experience visiting the Japan Center at Universidad de Los Andes.

Through calligraphy practice, Japanese karaoke, and meaningful exchange with cultural experts, María Camila discovered new ways to connect with Japan and strengthen intercultural understanding within her local academic community. 🌸

On October 24, we hosted Prof. Staci Bernhard from Florida International University for “A Practical Guide to Developing Public Relations Materials.”

Through a practical lens, we explored how to set measurable goals, craft a clear and concise message, and apply core design principles—color, typography, white space, visual hierarchy, and consistency—to create materials that inform and persuade. As Prof. Staci reminded us, effective communication is the key to successful PR and marketing 🎯✨.

We then put it into action: every team delivered a 10-minute first draft of their pitch, sharing market research and business ideas they’ll present to Japanese local producers this December in Yamanashi, Japan 🇯🇵. After each pitch, professors, the GOROM team, and peers offered feedback to refine content and delivery.

Next session: rehearsal and iteration—one step closer to Yamanashi and to messages that move people to action 🚀🌸.