ML Talent Strategies
Carla A. Downing, PhD, serves as the Vice President of Talent at ML Talent Strategies since May 2022 and is the Managing Owner of Downing Interactive, LLC, where services include instructional systems design, LMS selection and implementation, and providing resources for parents to support their children's learning. Downing has extensive experience in higher education, having worked as a Learning Strategist at the University of Indianapolis from August 2016 to June 2023, where responsibilities included faculty development and strategic initiative consulting. Previous roles encompass positions as a Learning and Development Consultant at Medxcel Facilities Management and an L&D Strategist at ML Talent Strategies. Additionally, Downing has held significant leadership roles in eLearning and instructional design, including Vice President of Product Development at The College Network and various academic positions at Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois University. Downing holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on instructional systems design from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
ML Talent Strategies
We Help You Grow Your Business! We design, implement and lead effective talent strategies to help you attract, develop, and engage top-talent to grow your company. Small and mid-sized companies often find themselves ill-equipped to compete with the big boys for talent, leaving themselves understaffed and under-skilled to grow. At ML, we believe "Big Company" talent strategy shouldn't be reserved for big companies. We develop, implement and lead talent strategy to ensure your company has the right people, with the right talent, at the right time to grow. ML was founded by Mike Lantz, a twenty-year veteran in the talent strategy, training, coaching and leadership development space. A graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Mike’s stated purpose in life is to lead, inspire and coach others to their greatest potential. This purpose has driven his personal, professional and faith decisions throughout his life. From 2009-2017, Lantz served as the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) for DEFENDERS, the only ADT Premier Provider in the nation, leading the recruiting, training, talent development, team member relations, succession, communications and compensation and benefits functions. Early in his tenure with DEFENDERS’, Lantz cast the vision and developed the strategy for Learning & Development to be the cornerstone for DEFENDERS growth. His team’s hard work was recently recognized as they were named the 17th top training company in the world by Training Magazine. Before joining DEFENDERS, Mike owned and operated LQ Performance Strategies for 10 years before selling the company in 2009. LQ, a full-service talent strategy firm, served 250 companies in 31 different industries by developing and implementing customized talent strategies to fuel growth.