Karla Motta

Karla Motta, M.Ed, serves as the Coordinator of the Latina/o Outreach Center and the Student Ambassador Program within the Office of Student Recruitment and High School Services at the University of Utah. She earned a Bachelor's of Arts in Sociology with a Criminology Certificate and a Master's of Education, Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah, and has spent a number of years focusing on the issues of Educational Access & Equity, Social Justice and Community-School partnerships.

Currently Karla works in collaboration with local high schools to provide college awareness and preparatory programs designed to increase the college going rates of traditionally underrepresented students in higher education. Together with Doctoral student Andrea Garavito Martinez, Karla has implemented a supplemental college-going component for the Latinas Adelante program at Horizonte Alternative High School and Instruction Center. She also collaborates extensively with Latino community organizations to develop workshops focused on providing navigational strategies to recent immigrants and their families in regards to higher education. Karla has presented at numerous local and national conferences on topics of diversity and social justice, and taught introductory level courses for undergraduate studies at the University of Utah.

In addition, Karla has worked for Utah's Juvenile Justice Services as a counselor, where she avidly navigated the system to provide prevention services surrounding domestic violence, sexual assault and issues of diversity. This experience provided her with the ability to help build reciprocal relationships between judges, caseworkers, and clients. Community building is central to her work, both in and outside of academia. In the near future Karla hopes to pursue a PhD in Education. Her areas of interest are Critical Race Theory, LatCrit Theory, Chicana Feminist Thought, Educational Access & Equity, and Community-School Partnerships. In the meantime she enjoys spending time with her daughter, and indulging in the endless possibilities the great outdoors in Utah offers.