Her paternal grandfather, Arturo Matte Larraín, was a lawyer and congressman, Minister of the State, presidential candidate (1952), and a founder of forestal and paper company CMPC.
In 2002, she worked with Fondo Confianza though the foundation La Vaca, wherein she aided in funding entrepreneurial women of low-economic resources.
She created 230 work and education centers which cater to 3,000 women in the area of El Maule Sur.
On February 9, 2010, Chile's then-President-elect Sebastián Piñera nominated Magdalena Matte as his Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
On April 19, 2011, Magdalena stepped down as minister due to the suspect millionaire compensation payment to the construction company Kodama.