Growing up in inner New York City is something most Americans have only seen in the movies, but for Debbie Matz, it was a reality.

Matz's childhood took place in The Bronx with a father who worked as a senior official at a government agency. At the time, the concept of a working mother was nearly unheard of, but Matz's mother broke the housewife mold by serving in an administrative capacity at a local hospital.

"I never saw anything wrong or different about women working because that was the environment that I grew up in," Matz said from a corner chair in her large office at the NCUA during an interview with CU Times. She sat with her back to the window and the city of Alexandria, Va. sprawled out behind her.