The National Court Reporters Foundation presented the Court to CART Grant in the amount of $1,500 to Erica McQuillen, RDR, CRR, an official court reporter from Tucson, Ariz. The announcement was made at a special awards luncheon at the 2025 NCRA Conference & Expo held July 24-26 in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Court to CART Grant is offered through NCRF in memory of the late stepfather and lifelong role model of NCRA member Rich Germosen, FAPR, RDR, CRR, Eligio Antonio Rosario, Sr. The $1,500 annual grant is awarded to an NCRA applicant interested in broadening his or her skill set from the judicial setting to the path of providing communication access realtime translation (CART) for people with hearing loss or for nonnative English speakers.
McQuillen will receive an assessment of her realtime skills and instruction about current CART technology. Hands-on training will be provided as well as the chance to learn from applicable existing NCRA videos.
McQuillen has been a court reporter for 22 years, 17 of which have been spent with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. She is also a multi-qualifier on both the NCRA national Speed and Realtime contests.
In her application essay, McQuillen wrote that she applied for the Grant so she can continue to use her stenographic reporting skills once she retires from working for the federal court. She attributes her interest in providing CART to her experiences with the school her children attend that serves as an immersion program for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.
“I have witnessed firsthand how meaningful these services are to the people relying upon them, and my career as an official realtime court reporter has likewise given me an appreciation for the high level of skilled need to provide these services,” she wrote. “This training will allow me the opportunity to transition into the CART field where I could hit the ground running upon retirement,” she added.
“Erica wants CART training for all the right reasons,” the Hon. John C. Hinderaker, whom she has worked for since 2020, wrote in his letter of recommendation. “We need a CART-trained court reporter in the District of Arizona. Unfortunately, the District does not currently employ a single trained CART court reporter. Were Erica CART-trained, she would fill an important and unmet need,” he added.
Sherry Gammon, a courtroom deputy assigned to McQuillen’s team, echoed Hinderaker’s comments in her letter of recommendation, writing that the grant would serve to expand her abilities, allowing her to better assist members of the bench and public who have hearing limitations.
“Having a CART skilled court reporter on staff will provide the bench with the assurance that they can rely on whenever assistance in this area is needed,” wrote Gammon.
Learn more about the Court to CART Grant or contact Foundation Manager Jill Parker Landsman at jlandsman@ncra.org for information about other Foundation programs.
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