She was directly involved in resolving issues coming through the governor's hotline, and also supervised the resettlement of residents to other regions.
On 23 March 2005, Ponomaryova entered the Federation Council as a representative of the executive authority of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
She is married to Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Vladimir Nikolayevich Ponomaryov [ru], (born in 1945).
Their son, Ilya Ponomarev, is a former member of the State Duma of the 5th and 6th convocations from the A Just Russia party.
Ilya, the only member of the State Duma to vote against Russia's annexation of Crimea, went into exile in 2014.