Article VIII of the NCRA Constitution and Bylaws allows for additional nominations for NCRA Director and Officer positions. Additional nominations were received by the deadline of May 7, 2023, which have been included below.
As required by the Constitution and Bylaws, the order of names on any ballot or other listing of candidates published by NCRA shall be determined by lot. The order of the listing of names below was done by a randomizer in which the Executive Director and Director of Governance were present. The current President-Elect, Kristin Anderson, RPR, Denton, Texas, automatically ascends to the presidency.
PRESIDENT
Kristin M. Anderson, RPR, Denton, Texas
Kristin Anderson is the official court reporter for the 481st Judicial District Court, Denton County, Texas. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and Human Relations in 2021 and earned her Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership in 2022. Anderson is a Certified Shorthand Reporter in Illinois, Missouri, and Texas, and holds the nationally recognized professional certification of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR).
From 2013-2017, Anderson worked for the U.S. District Court in San Antonio, Texas. During her tenure in that position, she obtained her Federal Certified Realtime Reporter (FCRR) designation from the U.S. Court Reporters Association (USCRA).
Anderson has been a stenographer for 23 years. She has worked as a freelance court reporter in Kansas and Missouri and as an official court reporter for the states of Illinois and Kansas, as well as for Bexar County in San Antonio, Texas.
She is a past Chair and Vice Chair of the National Congress of State Associations (NCSA) and served on that committee in various capacities from 2006-2014. She has also served on several other committees and task forces during her 18 years of volunteer service for the profession both in state leadership in Kansas, including two terms as president, and national leadership.
During her NCRA Board service as an officer, Anderson has chaired the Board Policies & Procedures Committee as its Vice President and the Finance and Audit committees during her two years as the Secretary-Treasurer. From 2015-2016, she also served on the convention and ethics committees for the Texas Court Reporters Association (TCRA). In addition to TCRA and USCRA, Anderson also holds membership with the Texas Deposition Reporters Association.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Keith Lemons, FAPR, RPR, CRR (Ret), Spring Hill, Tenn.
Keith Lemons is a retired freelance court reporter, former firm owner, and official court reporter with more than 40 years of experience. He retired in 2020 from Cleeton Davis Court Reporters in Nashville, Tenn. Lemons holds the nationally recognized professional certifications of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) and Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR). He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters (FAPR).At the national level, Lemons served on the NCRA Board of Directors for three years. He is also a past chair of NCRA’s Scopists Task Force and served on the Association’s Constitution & Bylaws, Technology, and Realtime Systems Administrator committees. He has been a contributor to the JCR magazine for many years. He has also served as a presenter at the national and state levels.
At the state level, Lemons is a past president of the Wyoming Professional Court Reporters Association and the Tennessee Court Reporters Association.
VICE PRESIDENT
Phyllis Craver Lykken, FAPR, RPR, Yakima, Wash.
Phyllis Craver Lykken is a freelance reporter and agency owner from Yakima, Wash. She began her reporting career in 1980 and holds the nationally recognized certification of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR). She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters (FAPR).
Currently an NCRA Director, Craver Lykken served as chair and member of the NCRA STRONG Committee and served on the National Congress of State Associations (NCSA) Governing Board as an NCRA regional representative and on many other committees. She has also presented at NCRA’s Annual Conference & Expo, at several state association seminars, and via webinar.
At the state level, Craver Lykken held many positions with the Washington Court Reporters Association (WCRA), including serving as president on three occasions and once as copresident. She has been a fierce legislative advocate, serving as WCRA’s legislative committee cochair for many years. She has also appeared before the Washington Supreme Court to brief a proposed court rule amendment. She played an instrumental role in enacting an emergency order (in addition to helping draft a court rule amendment) to allow for remote oath administration. Craver Lykken currently serves on the Washington State Bar Association’s Character & Fitness and LLLT Boards.
VICE PRESIDENT
Cindy Isaacsen, RPR, Shawnee, Kan.
Cindy Isaacsen currently lives in Shawnee, Kan., and has been a reporter in various locations and capacities for the past 34 years. She is an official court reporter for the 10th Judicial District Court in Olathe, Kan. In 2018 she was elected to serve a three-year term as a member of NCRA’s Board of Directors, and since 2021 has served as Secretary-Treasurer. She holds the nationally recognized professional certification of Registered Professional Reporter (RPR).
At the national level, Isaacsen has served on several NCRA Committees, including the Elections Committee in 2016-2017 and as Vice Chair for the National Congress of State Associations (NCSA). She has also been to NCRA’s Legislative Boot Camp — twice as an attendee and twice as an NCRA Board member — and NCRA’s Leadership Conference. Isaacsen serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the National Court Reporters Foundation and is a three-year NCRF Angel.
At the state level, Isaacsen has served on the board and twice as president of the Kansas Court Reporters Association and as convention chair for several events. She has also served as a speaker for several state associations and presents at local career fairs. Isaacsen graduated in 1988 from the Stenograph Institute of Texas.
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Cathy Penniston, RPR, CRI, Waukee, Iowa
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. Penniston currently teaches stenographic reporting at the Des Moines Area Community College in Newton, Iowa.
Penniston holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, and obtained her Associate 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, Penniston has served on numerous NCRA committees including as an NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program leader. She has served as a member of the NCRA Board of Directors since 2018. She has also been a volunteer for the National Court Reporters Foundation phone-a-thon fundraising campaigns.
At the state level, Penniston has served as president, vice president, and secretary of the Iowa Court Reporters Association. She is a recipient of the Roy Voelker Memorial Award for Distinguished Service for the court reporting profession of the state of Iowa, and also received the Indian Hills Community College Vision Award Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.
DIRECTOR
Carol Naughton, RDR, Virginia Beach, Va.
Carol Naughton is an official court reporter for the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va. Previously, she worked as a freelance court reporter for 27 years in the markets of Los Angeles, Chicago, northeast Wisconsin, and many areas in Virginia and Washington, D.C. She graduated from Bryan College of Court Reporting in Los Angeles where she qualified to take — and passed — the California Certified Shorthand Reporter exam. She holds the Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR), NCRA’s highest certification.
Naughton served on the NCRA A to Z® Committee and Brand Ambassadors Committee. She has nine years’ experience with the National Congress of State Associations (NCSA), serving six of those years as chair or cochair. She aided its transition from the “Committee” to the “Congress,” assisted in the newly revised resolution process, and drafted resolutions, most notably, the Reinstatement of Exam History and the ability of NCRA’s Membership to now vote online for any dues increases.
Naughton is also a proud supporter of the National Court Reporters Foundation and a second-year NCRF Angel.
Naughton is a past president of the Virginia Court Reporters Association and continues to serve on its Legislative Committee.
DIRECTOR
Kelly Linkowski, RPR, CRR, CRC, CPE, Rittman, Ohio
Since 1993, Kelly Linkowski has worked from the comforts of home and around the world, providing verbatim transcription and instant speech-to-text accessibility using the power of stenography. “Within our professional ranks, each of us providing services to the best of our ability, sharing information for the betterment of our industry as a whole, is an empowering and rewarding result of volunteering,” Linkowski shares.
Linkowski began her service with the Ohio Court Reporters Association as a Director and Student Liaison in 2012 and completed her term as Immediate Past President in 2021.
With the National Court Reporters Association, she has been an active volunteer, contributes to articles for publication, presents seminars, and encourages students through mentoring and as an advisory member of stenography programs.
Linkowski has been an active participant in the following NCRA committees: Student Community of Interest; National Outreach Committee; Court Reporting Program Advisory Committee (Student Liaison); Council on Approved Student Education; Intersteno Task Force; National Congress of State Associations (Regional Representative); Strategic Planning Task Force (Captioning Segment Chair); Nominating Committee; Captioning Committee (Chair); and Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC) Certification Committee.
DIRECTOR
Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI, Washington, D.C.
Margary Rogers, an official court reporter in Washington, D.C., obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Court Reporting, Associate of Science Degree as a Legal Assistant, and a Concentration in Psychology from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. An NCRA member for more than 20 years, Rogers regularly presents at NCRA and Maryland Court Reporters Association (MCRA) annual conferences and has written several articles for the JCR and NCRA student newsletter. She earned the Realtime Systems Administrator certificate.
As creator of POP (Promoting Our Profession) movement/initiatives, Rogers focuses on partnering and collaborating with organizations, communities, and schools to serve them by giving back while promoting and marketing the skill and career of stenography.
Rogers has been a director, secretary, president-elect, and president of MCRA. She taught court reporting at universities and community colleges in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Rogers is a National Court Reporters Foundation Angel and Angel Gatherer. She chairs NCRA’s Membership Committee and serves as a National Congress of State Associations (NCSA) delegate. She also serves on the Student/Teacher Committee, PAC Committee, and Brand Ambassador Council.
Diversity and inclusion are important to Rogers. She is the first recipient of the NCRF Carl Sauceda Grant.
