Director of the Iowa Department for the Blind

Karen A. Keninger

Karen Keninger was born and raised in Vinton, Iowa, the third of seven children in a happy and lively farming family. When she was 16 months old her parents discovered that she could not see very well, and she was later diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Although she had some vision as a child, she was completely blind by the age of 20. She attended school at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, graduating in 1970. In 1973 she graduated from Drake University with a B.A. in Journalism.

In 1987, after many years as a full-time homemaker and mother, she established a freelance writing service in Newton, Iowa. As part of this effort, Keninger went back to school and graduated in 1991 with a masters degree in English with an emphasis in business and technical writing from Iowa State University. She continued her freelance work until 1995 when she accepted the position of Rehabilitation Consultant with the Iowa Department for the Blind.

In 2000 she was promoted to Program Administrator for the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. After eight years in that position, she was appointed by the Iowa Commission for the Blind to the position of Director of the Iowa Department for the Blind.

As director, Keninger oversees 90 staff members working in six major program areas. She is responsible for developing and upholding the Department’s mission of creating opportunities for independence for all blind and visually impaired Iowans.

During her 14 years of work with the Department for the Blind, Keninger has been involved in initiating many new programs for various sectors of the Department and for the Department as a whole. These initiatives included:

• The introduction of digital talking books to the Iowa Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped
• Implementation of an in-house, state-of-the-art digital recording program and a new set of volunteers to expand and transform the audio production program at the library
• Establishment of the Friends for the Library group, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the library
• Initiation and implementation of an internationally recognized computer training project, which was funded through a $1 million grant

Keninger also serves on several professional boards, including the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation.

While Keninger has achieved much throughout the span of her career, she has done it while balancing the needs of her family. Keninger has six grown children, one daughter and five sons. Five have established professional careers in management positions in various fields, including computer software, public accounting, banking and insurance. Her youngest is currently completing a masters degree in forestry at Iowa State University. Keninger has seven grandchildren.

Keninger lives on an acreage southwest of Newton in a home she built in 2003. Her interests include national and international travel, as well as reading, writing, tandem biking and community theater.