Long before Ayeesha Ash found her own voice, her future was shaped by the choices her family made. Born in St George’s, Grenada, and raised in Meanjin (Brisbane), she carries two homelands close to her heart – Grenada and Aotearoa New Zealand. Ayeesha is a proud Māori woman of Tūhoe and Ngāti Koura descent, with a creative voice grounded in ancestry, matriarchal strength and knowledge passed down through generations.

Ayeesha came to Australia with her mother when she was just six weeks old – a beginning rooted in care and courage. Those early foundations continue to inform how she moves through the world – with independence, clarity and a commitment to carving space on her own terms. Raised with her mother’s guiding words that “a man is not a financial plan”, she is a vocal advocate for women’s autonomy and financial freedom.

Working as a writer, director, producer and performer, Ayeesha moves across theatre, live performance, screen and digital media. Her practice spans acting, directing and storytelling for stage and screen, alongside long-form writing and collaborative performance work with artists, institutions and creative collectives.

Her work examines culture – both popular and deeply personal – through lived experience, inviting audiences to find commonality through difference. For Ayeesha, this is the power of art: the ability to hold complexity, open space, and allow people to arrive fully as themselves.