Melissa Gumbs is the daughter of Marcel Gumbs, former politician and the 2nd Prime Minister of Sint Maarten. Gumbs grew up in Sint Maarten.[1] At the end of 2006, she obtained a master's degree in international business administration from St. Thomas University.[2] After moving to the Netherlands, Gumbs worked at TMF Group from 2010 to 2015 as a market research analyst. During this period she was co-founder and chairman of Unified Sint Maarten Connection (USC), a youth organization that aimed to connect St. Maarteners in the Netherlands.[3]
After moving back to Sint Maarten, Gumbs co-founded the youth party Party for Progress (PFP) in 2019 and has been party leader ever since. In the 2020 elections, she received 559 votes, equivalent to 39.7% of all votes cast for PFP. On 10 February 2020, she took office as a member of parliament and group leader on behalf of the PFP.[4]