Mayssaa Sheik Al Ard was born in Egypt to a Syrian father, and studied in the United Arab Emirates.

Mayssaa grew up in a very diverse environment, which gave her the privilege of understanding other cultures, and allowed her to be more open minded about peoples’ differences.

She emigrated to Aotearoa in 1997 with her family and is now she is the founder and Chairperson of the Waikato Arab Social Club, and is a committee member with Tangata Tiriti.

She is an experienced translator. After attending a Treaty workshop at Hui Te Rangiora Marae in 2018, she completed facilitator training with Tangata Tiriti.  Mayssaa translated Te Tiriti resources into her native language, Arabic, for all Arabic speakers in Aotearoa.