Matias was born in the Dominican Republic, and her family moved to the United States when she was five years old.
[2] Matias ran successfully for the 16th Essex seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 2016 elections, defeating incumbent Marcos Devers by receiving 48.8% of the vote in a three-way race.
[3] In 2017, Matias decided to forgo reelection to the state house and instead declared her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district, where Democratic Congresswoman Niki Tsongas had announced her retirement.
[5] Matias was appointed to the board of directors of MassINC in January 2019, and became its chief operating officer in March.
[6] President Joe Biden appointed Matias to be the regional administrator for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for New England.