Karla was a theatre arts minor as an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount
University. There, she appeared in productions of "Medea" and "Spoon
River Anthology" and two student films. Karla was also on the "Dating
Game" twice in the 1970s,"Joker's Wild" and "Tic Tac Dough" in the
1980s. On the latter, she was a five time winner, winning prizes
including a new car and $10,000.
Karla played two roles in the UCLA student film by Jamaa Fanaka that
was released commercially, "Welcome Home, Brother Charles" aka "Soul
Vengence" - a hooker and a barmaid.
She also appeared as an extra in the television movie, "Root's II" and
on stage in "For Colored Girls....". A published poet, she was Dellco
publishing's Poet of the Year for two consecutive years and her work
can be found on Poetry.com and AmericanPoets.com. She has also
performed her works on public radio and on college campuses throughout
California.
With a master's degree in counseling and guidance and a doctoral
candidate at the Claremont Graduate University, Karla spent 23 years in
the California Community College System. She retired in 2000 as a Dean.
She is the adoptive parent of Khalil Monroe, now 21 and a college
student. Her natural child, Kamani Layla-Alexandra is a high school
sophmore.
