Kelly Craft Bio
Kelly Dawn Craft is an American businesswoman, politician, and former diplomat who built a career bridging Kentucky business, national Republican politics, and international diplomacy. She served as the 30th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021 under President Donald Trump, and earlier as the 31st United States Ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019, becoming the first woman to hold that post. Craft is the founder and head of Kelly G. Knight LLC, a Lexington-based advisory firm, and she remains an influential Republican fundraiser and philanthropist in Kentucky.
Early Life and Background
Kelly Dawn Craft was born on February 24, 1962, in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Bobby Guilfoil and Sherry Dale Guilfoil. Both of her parents passed away in 2011. She grew up just outside Glasgow, a small town in rural central Kentucky, in a middle-class household shaped by her parents’ public service and hands-on work.
Her father served as the town veterinarian in Glasgow, farmed the family land, and raised cows and horses. He was active in the Democratic Party and later served as chairman of the Barren County Democratic Party, while also serving as a deacon at the First Christian Church in Glasgow and on the local board of health. Her mother was a home economics teacher at Glasgow High School who sewed the family’s clothing and household draperies. Craft has a younger sister, Micah Guilfoil Payne, who is a lawyer in Glasgow, and a younger brother, Marc Guilfoil, who serves as executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Craft attended Glasgow High School, where she played clarinet in the marching band and graduated in 1980. She went on to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where she created her own interdisciplinary major with an emphasis on international law and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984.
Path to US Politics
Craft began her engagement in public life through local civic causes, including helping the poor and raising funds for the arts. She became a prominent supporter of President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004, when she co-chaired the Republican National Finance Committee, and later served as the Kentucky finance committee chairwoman for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. She also raised money for Governor Ernie Fletcher and Congressmen Hal Rogers and Ron Lewis, establishing herself as a major Republican donor in her home state.
In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Craft as a U.S. alternate delegate to the United Nations for the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly. She was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote on October 26, 2007, and advised the U.S. Ambassador to the UN on American engagement in Africa. She also addressed the General Assembly on investments to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria and to promote development across Africa.
After her UN work, Craft founded Kelly G. Knight LLC in 2004, a marketing, strategic management, and business consulting firm headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. She also joined the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council and served on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees beginning in August 2016, before resigning a year later to accept her ambassadorship to Canada.
Kelly Craft Career
Early Career (1984–2007)
After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1984, Craft built a career in Kentucky business and civic life. She became active in local politics and philanthropy, supporting arts organizations and charitable causes, while steadily increasing her profile in Republican fundraising circles.
By the mid-2000s, she was a trusted voice in the national party, co-chairing the Republican National Finance Committee in 2004 and later running the Kentucky finance operation for Mitt Romney. Her combination of business experience, Kentucky roots, and donor relationships positioned her for federal appointments, leading to her 2007 selection as a U.S. alternate delegate to the United Nations.
Ambassador to Canada Breakthrough (2017–2019)
On June 15, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Craft to become the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, with the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The United States Senate confirmed her by unanimous voice vote on August 3, 2017, and she assumed office on October 23, 2017, becoming both the 31st U.S. Ambassador to Canada and the first woman to hold the position.
Craft played a leadership role in renegotiating the North American trade framework, helping to drive the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Her handling of the trilateral deal raised her standing inside the Trump administration and paved the way for her next diplomatic assignment.
Her tenure in Ottawa also faced turbulence, including steel and aluminum tariffs and pointed public criticism by Trump of Canadian leadership. In June 2018, an envelope containing a suspicious white powder and a death threat was mailed to her office. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later praised her dedication to the bilateral relationship, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford credited her with steady work during a particularly tense period in U.S.-Canada affairs.
Ambassador to the United Nations Era (2019–2021)
On February 22, 2019, President Trump announced his intention to nominate Craft as the 30th United States Ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding Nikki Haley. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton backed her as the most logical choice, and McConnell supported her candidacy. The Senate confirmed her on July 31, 2019, by a 56–34 vote, and Vice President Mike Pence swore her in on September 10, 2019. She presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on September 12, 2019.
At the United Nations, Craft was an active presence in the Security Council and General Assembly. She pushed for a tougher line on Iran, including efforts to extend an arms embargo, and criticized the UN Human Rights Council as a “haven for despots and dictators” hostile to Israel. She also drew attention for an unprecedented 2020 meeting in New York with a senior Taiwanese official, James K.J. Lee, and held a video call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in January 2021, prompting protests from China.
In response to her work on Taiwan and her criticism of China’s maritime claims, China sanctioned Craft on January 20, 2021, the final day of the Trump administration. The Biden National Security Council called the sanctions “unproductive and cynical.” Craft left office later that month, ending a diplomatic career that spanned Ottawa, New York, and the broader international stage.
Campaign for Governor of Kentucky (2022–2023)
After leaving the Trump administration, Craft declared her candidacy for governor of Kentucky on September 7, 2022, choosing state Senator Max Wise as her running mate. Her campaign focused on lowering the state crime rate, taking a hard line on the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged role in the fentanyl crisis, and opposing transgender inclusion in school policy.
Craft enjoyed a significant fundraising advantage, raising $752,000 within her first three weeks and eventually taking over the lead among Republican candidates by the end of 2022. She lent her campaign $9.2 million and spent $5.3 million on advertising by May 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis endorsed her. Despite raising $8.5 million overall, she placed third in the Republican primary, trailing Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Trump-backed winner.
Kelly Craft Family
Family Background and Public Service Lineage
Kelly Dawn Craft, née Guilfoil, was raised in a middle-class family in rural central Kentucky with deep ties to the local community. Her father, Bobby Guilfoil, practiced veterinary medicine, farmed, and served as chairman of the Barren County Democratic Party, while her mother, Sherry Dale Guilfoil, taught home economics at Glasgow High School. Her younger brother, Marc Guilfoil, is executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and her younger sister, Micah Guilfoil Payne, is a lawyer in Glasgow.
Personal Life
Craft married David Moross and then Judson Knight before marrying Joe Craft in April 2016. Joe Craft, a Hazard, Kentucky, native and University of Kentucky College of Law graduate, is a billionaire coal-mining executive with Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., the second-largest coal producer in the eastern United States. The couple share six children, and as of 2018 they had 11 grandchildren. Craft has also been active in philanthropy with her husband, co-founding the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics at Morehead State University in 2015 and committing more than $10 million to it by 2019.