It may be that part of him that was initially drawn to engineering, but Matt Nicoletta has always tried to leave things better than he's found them.

Like many, he fell into credit unions. What started as a summer job after graduating from college became something he found a passion for. His minor in business administration and past engineering experience prior to switching his major to German, served him well when he joined the $3.8 billion Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union.

Since 2003, he worked his way up from consumer loan processor to his current role as e-Marketing manager at the Washington-based cooperative.