Karla Lant is an Adjunct Professor with the Master of Organizational Leadership at Northern Arizona University and the owner of Karla Lant Freelance where she provides mostly technical writing, editing, SEO, digital marketing, and consulting services. She has written successful applications for graduate studies and has earned numerous honors and fellowships.
Karla graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies and a minor in French and combined sciences. At U of A, she was on the Dean’s List while working 6 days each week and engaging in social activism.
Next, Karla went on to do graduate work at the University of Alabama, where she received the prestigious Graduate Council Fellowship to fund her research. There she taught undergraduate students in Introduction to Women’s Studies, a course she was able to shape and run mostly herself. She also conducted research locally and in Haiti, for which she received the Stephen Karatheodoris Research Award. Also in Alabama Karla ran a successful Take Back the Night program and co-founded a LGBTQ+ student group—the first at the university.
Following her graduate work, Karla went on to law school at Columbia University Law School in New York City. At CLS, Karla was named a Beinecke Scholar, a Saxe Scholar, and a Revson Fellow. She won a Human Rights Internship for her 1L summer work with the Urban Justice Center and was a CLS Public Service Fellow during her 2L summer in support of her work with a non-profit working toward Romani rights and recognition. Karla was also a co-founder of both the Students for Reproductive Freedom and the Society for Immigrants’ and Refugees’ Rights, and the Fundraising Editor of the Columbia Journal for Gender and Law. She was also active in numerous other groups and was recognized for completing over 1,000 hours of pro bono work during her time in school.
Following graduation, Lant won the competitive Kirkland & Ellis fellowship to support her work with The Partnership for the Homeless as Staff Attorney. During that time she also was admitted to the PhD program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she studied medical anthropology.
Soon, Karla moved back to her home state of Arizona and joined the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. She stayed there for just over 2 years before starting her own solo practice with a contract to take on indigent clients through the county. She handled major felonies including murder and serious sex crimes cases due to her expertise with scientific, medical, and DNA evidence. She had a healthy motions practice as an attorney and continued to write outside her legal work.
After having a child in 2009, Lant changed her focus and turned to teaching and writing full-time. She joined the faculty at Northern Arizona University where she is currently an adjunct with the Master of Organizational Leadership program. There she creates and teaches courses to mostly graduate students.
Karla also runs her own freelance business as a writer, editor, SEO consultant, and digital marketer. In that capacity, she creates a wide variety of written work for a number of clients, principally in medical, scientific, and technical verticals.
In her spare time, Karla enjoys baking, cooking, raising chickens, and designing and creating handmade clothing, mostly with crochet and fiber arts. She truly enjoys assisting students who—maybe like her—feel unsure about what comes next in a process that can be intimidating and alienating.
