Over the past two years, Zara Mattox and Danielle Manygoat have achieved significant academic milestones while juggling full-time jobs as nurses at Banner Health, a nonprofit health network headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Thanks to a partnership with the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), Banner Health employees like Zara and Danielle can pursue their degrees at UAGC at a lower cost, expanding opportunities for health care professionals to achieve their goals and improve the lives of those around them.
During their academic journey, UAGC featured Zara and Danielle in success stories, highlighting their contributions in the health care field while simultaneously pursuing their degrees. In their roles, Zara and Danielle continue to use their knowledge and credentials to empower themselves and to make a lasting impact locally and nationwide. Today, these inspiring women have graduated with their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees, and we continue to be in awe of their compassion, hard work, and commitment. Recently, we caught up with them for an update on where they are today.
Read on to learn more about Zara and Danielle’s academic and personal journeys.
Zara Mattox
Between a self-diagnosed case of “senioritis,” numerous coinciding projects, and her son’s illness, Zara’s push toward graduation was one of epic proportions.
When Zara spoke with UAGC in 2024, she was supporting the onboarding of new hires in her role as an RN Operations Support Specialist at Banner Health, in addition to spearheading system and facility process improvements, and associate engagement and retention.
“We were onboarding a whole heck of a lot of associates, and we had a lot of projects down the line, so we had to put boots on the ground to get stuff done,” she recalls. “It was hard to weigh out work-life balance, and it really culminated all right before graduation.”
The last three courses in her Bachelor of Science in Nursing program required Zara to demonstrate the cumulative knowledge she gained throughout the program. She explains that after being honest with her professors about the heavy workload and personal struggles she was going through, they embodied the Culture of Care philosophy at UAGC and worked with her to make sure she got her assignments completed.
“I really owe a lot of credit to the instructors,” she notes. “I ended up finishing my program when I thought I was going to be done.”
Zara also credits her employer for providing the opportunity to pursue her degree thanks to the company’s partnership with UAGC.
“That in itself was really instrumental to why I even decided to go back to school and why I stuck with it,” she notes. “Banner has invested in me, and UAGC has been very understanding with some of my work-life balances.”
Alongside celebrating her graduation by binge-watching Netflix shows she missed while focusing on school, Zara expresses a profound sense of pride and accomplishment for this remarkable achievement.
“I do feel a sense of relief, and it feels good to have something I’ve wanted to accomplish way earlier in my career that I put in the backseat for a while,” she says. “I finally got it after 10 years of promising myself. So that feels really good.”
Currently, in addition to her responsibilities as an RN Operations Support Specialist, she also took on the role of facilitator for caseloads of upwards of 150 new nurse graduates at her hospital. Each facility has its own new nurse graduate residency program through the Arizona Nurses Association, and Zara is in charge of ensuring they receive the content and interactive sessions they need.
Banner has invested in me, and UAGC has been very understanding with some of my work-life balances.
Zara uses the knowledge she gained in her program to review and revise hospital policies by researching relevant literature to determine if the policies are still pertinent. She explains that her program has helped her know how to evaluate and comprehend scholarly sources, and now she’s more efficient and effective at this type of research.
In her role, Zara helped create a guideline for antenatal breast milk at Banner Health, which assists parents who provide breast milk prior to their baby’s delivery. She has since presented this standard operating procedure to directors not only in Arizona, but across Wyoming and Colorado, where the facilities launched programs.
Zara has made a transformational impact in her career, her community, and beyond.
Looking toward the future, Zara is adapting a portfolio of her work from the past year that she prepared in her program at UAGC to present to a panel at her hospital. She is hopeful the presentation will lead to increased recognition in her career.
Read Zara's full story.
Danielle Manygoat
When Danielle Manygoat celebrated her graduation from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at UAGC at the 2025 Spring Commencement ceremony, she experienced emotions ranging from pride and gratitude to unimaginable grief and loss. Danielle’s uncle had a heart attack and a stroke on the day of her graduation and ended up passing away two weeks later. She credits her uncle with being the catalyst to her pursuing her education, adding that family and community are top priorities and motivating factors in her life.
“When I got my diploma, I was happy I got it, but it was also a reminder of what I lost that day, so it’s just kind of surreal,” she shares.
Deeply rooted in her community as a Navajo woman, one of Danielle’s main goals with her education is to ensure there is native representation in the health care field.
I want to thank Banner Health and UAGC for helping me with my educational journey thus far and for giving me the opportunity to be able to reach the level of education that I have. It’s been an amazing journey.
“It’s very important that native patients trust they can be with a provider who understands their culture and who understands things that are not just modern medicine, but also that traditional, cultural aspect of it as well,” Danielle explains.
Living in a rural community, Danielle expresses that the fully online, flexible format of degree programs at UAGC allowed her to continue working and giving back to her community while also pursuing her education.
“Being able to take classes online and still be able to work and participate in family events was a really big help,” she says. “It was really important to me that I’d be able to still do all the things that I was doing and also take classes at the same time.”
Additionally, she expresses that it “helped tremendously” that she was able to attend her program tuition-free, and that without a huge financial strain, she was able to stay more focused on the coursework, her role, and her family.
Today, Danielle continues in her role as a registered nurse in the emergency department at Banner Page Hospital in Page, Arizona. She also has taken on a second role as the trauma coordinator at her facility. Looking ahead, she plans to pursue her master’s degree and become a nurse practitioner so she can make an even bigger impact.
“I want to thank Banner Health and UAGC for helping me with my educational journey thus far and for giving me the opportunity to be able to reach the level of education that I have,” she says. “It’s been an amazing journey.”
Read Danielle's full story.
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Written by Rachel Vensand, M.Ed., a Communications Specialist at UAGC.