Said Vice Presidential candidate James Stockdale at a nationally televised vice presidential debate in 1992. He's a little nutty, but more than a little disarming and not wrong. So, who is Palette? Why is it here?

"Palette is a mobile app that connects adults and the students they care about into a coherent support network that helps students achieve their goals."

I'm a parent of three teenagers, and the amount of time spent coordinating the people and services with whom they engage -- advisors, counselors, teachers, coaches, tutors, tutoring, pastors, grandparents, employers and more -- is extraordinary and exhausting. Wouldn't it be great if I could manage it all in one place? Wouldn't it be even better if my kid was part of it?

I've also spent my entire professional career thinking about ways to help kids succeed in college and beyond. These transition moments -- middle school to high school, high school to college and college to employment -- are difficult. Navigating these moments requires the student, parents, counselors, destination school or organization, originating school or organization and an array of advisors to work together. Not just work together, but do it many months in advance and it's not part of anyone's normal job. Wouldn't it be great if a counseling, advising or mentoring program could coordinate all of these people?

Well, Palette will do both. Advising, counseling and mentoring organizations use Palette to better manage and connect their advisors to their advisee's networks. Parents use Palette to manage the adults and services that interact with their kids. Students use Palette to create a personal "Advisory Board" that will help them achieve their goals. All use Palette to communicate, set and track To Do's and share opportunities with each other. So, that's who we are and what we're doing here!