Chi-mei Lin was born in Xindian, Taiwan and grew up in a military family with her three brothers. She attended First Taipei Girls High School and then studied English and education at National Taiwan University. To broaden her perspective of education to western approaches to education, she came to the United States to study administration at the University of Michigan. She worked various jobs as a YMCA after-school teacher, and an employee at Disaster Relief Coalition of America WorkWell doing vocational rehab, before being recruited to Chinese Community Center (CCC) as a school principal because of her background in human services and education. Today, as CEO of CCC, she has grown the center from its original origins as a language school to an agency that provides job training services and a senior center to all ethnicities. She has two sons and enjoys watching black-and-white movies.
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