Cathy Penniston is a teacher and independent broadcast captioner from Waukee, Iowa. Penniston spent 30 years working as an official court reporter for the state of Iowa before transitioning into her broadcast captioning career. She has also worked as
a freelancer and a CART provider. Cathy currently teaches stenographic reporting at the Des Moines Area Community College in Newton, Iowa.
Penniston served as president, vice president, and secretary of the Iowa Court Reporters Association. She has been a volunteer for National Court Reporters Foundation phone-a-thon fundraising campaign. Penniston received the Roy Voelker Memorial Award
for Distinguished Service for the court reporting profession of the state of Iowa. She also received the Indian Hills Community College Vision Award Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration. She obtained her Associate’s Degree in Court Reporting from the American Institute of Business. Penniston holds the national professional
certifications of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) and Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI).
At the national level, she has served on numerous NCRA committees and enjoys leading the NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand sessions. She has served as a member of the NCRA Board of Directors since 2018.