Joyce V. Brown is a NPSI founder and President of the Joyce V. Brown Consulting, a group of expert practitioner counselor leaders who specialize in training and coaching counselors and non-profit organizations working on the front lines of schools. She has spent her entire career in Chicago Public Schools as a student, teacher, counselor and district counseling manager. With more than 100 combined years of educational experiences across all facets of the K-12 landscape, including national, district and school based leadership and leading national and state organizations, the Brown Consulting group is a one stop shop for strategic postsecondary planning services for schools and school counselors, especially in districts requiring college and career readiness strategies to address complex school populations (e.g., students from low-income families, students with social-emotional needs, and students from nontraditional families). The team uses a system approach to plan and implement actions that emphasize leadership and collaboration, focused on intentional strategies to address specific student outcomes, validated with metrics. The consulting team has served as school counselors, classroom teachers, special education teachers, principals, district administrators, career and technical education coordinators, and assistant superintendents of schools. Additionally, team members have provided consultations and training with state departments of education, large urban school districts, rural districts and provided technical support to Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative. Brown earned a doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University in Educational Leadership. Her research interest centers on transition practices between grades 8 and 9, with a special focus on personalization and relationship building to support student achievement and decreased dropout rates. She has created a 12 Touch High School Transition Model© and was at the forefront of designing, leading and implementing Freshman Connection, a Chicago Public Schools four-week summer transition program for 31,500 eighth grade students. Her article, Save The Freshmen, appears in the November 2010 issue of the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Techniques Magazine.