Kelly Craft
Ambassador Kelly Craft was sworn in as the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations on September 10, 2019 and held the position until January 2021.
While leading the United States Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Craft promoted peace, human rights and human dignity for people around the globe. She worked tirelessly to secure lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the millions of refugees from Syria, South Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen. Ambassador Craft also negotiated the resolutions of old and new conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and the Caucasus, while promoting democracy,religious freedoms and the protection of minorities in China, Iran, Myanmar and other parts of the world.
The highest distinction of Ambassador Craft’s service to our country was the implementation of the historic and unprecedented Abraham Accords - the most significant turning point in the Middle East peace process in fifty years. The Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. She fought daily against anti-Israel bias at the United Nations and continually sought opportunities to strengthen ties between the United States and Israel socially, economically and diplomatically.
Ambassador Craft served as the United States Ambassador to Canada from October 2017 until assumption of her USUN role in 2019. During her time as Ambassador, she worked through the complex revisiting of the NAFTA treaty, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA. This agreement was not only for its economic magnitude but for its cutting-edge labor laws that protected the dignity of workers in all three countries.
With a deep commitment to education, Ambassador Craft has served on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees and co-founded the Morehead State University Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics.
Ambassador Craft served on numerous boards including the Advancing American Freedom advisory board. This organization promotes and defends the successful policies of recent years that yielded unprecedented prosperity at home and restored America’s strength abroad, while elevating traditional American values. Her position as ambassador to Canada was a perfect fit for her service on the Canadian American Business Council, promoting the relationship between Canada and the United States.
The Ambassador currently serves on the board of directors for the Institute for the Study of War, supporting real time, objective, non-partisan open-source analysis of threats to vital American national interests and values, including Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese threat to Taiwan’s autonomy.
Since February 2024, Ambassador Craft has served on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee as a Community Advisor member appointment.
With Ambassador Craft’s expertise and experience in international affairs, she continues to speak at international forums including the Munich Security Conference, Doha Forum and the GZero Japan Summit.
She is a staunch defender of Taiwan and was honored to speak at the Ketagalan Forum emphasizing the importance of regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific. In 2023, Ambassador Craft led the United States delegation to Taipei for an audience with President Tsai. Upon leaving her official post, the Chinese government imposed lifetime sanctions prohibiting Ambassador Craft from travel to and business with China, Hong Kong and Macao.
In January 2024, Ambassador Craft and Mr. Craft were chosen by the Republican National Committee to lead the Presidential Trust, which raises funds for the eventual 2024 Republican Nominee for President and Republican candidates for the United States Congress and the United States Senate.
Ambassador Craft is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Morehead State University. She and her husband, Joe Craft, who is also a native Kentuckian, share six children and twelve grandchildren.