RESTON, Va., Aug. 11, 2020 — The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, broadcast captioners, CART providers, and legal videographers, announced that Cathy L. Penniston, a freelance court reporter and captioner from Waukee, Iowa, was elected to serve a three-year term as a member of its Board of Directors during the Association’s Connect 2020, a virtual event that took place Aug. 7-9 in lieu of the traditional Conference & Expo that was canceled due to COVID-19.

Penniston spent 30 years working as an official court reporter for the state of Iowa before receiving a realtime captioning training grant and transitioning into a remote television broadcast captioning career. She has also worked as a freelance court reporter and a CART provider. Penniston currently teaches reporting classes at the Des Moines Area Community College in Des Moines, Iowa. She also works as an independent broadcast captioner. In addition, she provides remote realtime of court proceedings in Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho.

At the national level, Penniston has served on numerous NCRA committees and enjoys teaching  the NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program. She has served as a member of the NCRA Board of Directors since 2018.

Penniston has served as president, vice president, and secretary of the Iowa Court Reporters Association. She has volunteered multiple times to assist with the annual National Court Reporters Foundation phone-a-thon fundraising campaign and the Veterans History Project.

Penniston is the recipient of the Roy Voelker Memorial Award for Distinguished Service for the court reporting profession of the state of Iowa. She is also the recipient of the Indian Hills Community College Vision Award Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.

Penniston holds a master’s degree in Education from Clarke University, a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Iowa Wesleyan College, an associate degree from Indian Hills Community College, and an associate degree in Court Reporting from the American Institute of Business. She holds the national professional certifications of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) and Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI).