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Rooted in Tahlequah: UC Nursing alumnae expand women's health care in rural Oklahoma
October 6, 2026
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, is more than a place where University of Cincinnati College of Nursing alumnae practice. For Brandy Ponder, APRN, WHNP-BC, and Leonda Reese, MSN, APRN, WHNP-BC, it is home.
Both are Cherokee Nation citizens. Both built their healthcare careers in northeastern Oklahoma. And both chose UC College of Nursing Women's Health Nurse Practitioner program to expand what they could offer the women and families in their communities.
Their paths to advanced practice clinicians were different, but they eventually intersected in a way that illustrates the ripple effect of nursing education: Ponder became a mentor and preceptor to Reese, who recently graduated from UC and is now taking her expertise into an even broader network of rural communities.