Ambassador Mei Herbert is President and Co-founder of the International Goodwill Ambassadors Inner Circle. She works tirelessly to promote the aims of this organization, to support its members, and to promote goodwill.
Ambassador Mei H. Herbert was born Mei Huei Hu in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China and raised in a small town just outside of Taipei by parents who were small business owners. Her grandfather owned a coal mining company and supported Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Republic of China from 1928-1975. She proudly displays an official photo of her grandfather with Chiang Kai-shek in her home. Ambassador Herbert moved to the United States in 1960 and had four children from her first husband—Anthony Hinen, Theresa Morris, James Hinen and Paul Hinen. She married George A. Herbert of Sparks, Nevada in 1978. Together they operated Herbert’s Refrigeration Company until his passing in 2002. They were both active in the local SERTOMA (Service to Mankind) club.
Ambassador Herbert has a history of public service that dates back to 1975 when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recognized her for her volunteer work with the Interagency Refugee Task Force processing families fleeing Vietnam. Other memorable events include:
- She was appointed an International Goodwill Ambassador for the State of Nevada by Nevada Governor Richard Bryant in 1987
- She served as the Executive Director, Chinese Association of Nevada in 1989
- She’s served on the Nevada World Trade Council since 1992
- She received a US Senatorial Recognition from then US Senator Richard Bryant in 1999
- She founded the International Goodwill Ambassadors Inner Circle to promote goodwill and trade between Nevada and the World in 2003.
- She served as Advisor to the Overseas Chinese American Council strengthening the bilateral relations between Taiwan and Nevada in 2004
- She was awarded 2007 International Volunteer Award by Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons
- She was appointed a Pacific Asia Congressional Member representing the State of Nevada in support of the Taiwan-United States Sister Relations Alliance in 2008
- The Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs presented Ambassador Herbert the “Friend of Foreign Service Medal” (the highest state honor that can be given to a civilian) for her remarkable contribution to the friendship between the Republic of China and the United States of America on October 15, 2013
- Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval proclaimed April 23, 2016 a day in her honour in recognition of her lifetime of service to the community.
Ambassador Herbert is especially proud of her most important job—being the mother to four children, the grandmother to thirteen grand-children, and as of September 2018, the great-grandmother to seven great grand-children.