Karen Neff Witter is an alumna of the Betsy Daily School of Performing Arts, where she began dancing at the age of 5. In 1993, she attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts to study ballet. 


Karen continued dancing at Brown University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1998. In addition to taking courses in dance, Karen was a member of the State Ballet of Rhode Island company and a dancer and choreographer in Fusion Dance Company. She also taught dance classes to at-risk youth in an after-school program.

In 2000, Karen received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and began working as a School Social Worker. While in North Carolina, Karen taught tap, jazz, ballet and pointe at a studio in Chapel Hill, NC and served as a judge for the Dancer's Spotlight Competition in North Carolina and Virginia.