Glasgow native and longtime Republican donor Kelly Knight Craft was confirmed as ambassador to Canada on Thursday, according to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office.
“Out two nations share much more than a border; we have a heritage of trade and security relations that benefit us both,” McConnell said in a statement. “As a proven advocate for our national interests, Kelly will use her position to continue the long history of friendship between the United States and Canada. I appreciate her willingness to serve our country once again, and I know that she will make Kentucky proud.”
She was appointed in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and has been a Kentucky fundraising chairwoman for several presidential nominees. Last summer, Gov. Matt Bevin appointed her to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees
Craft, a native of Glasgow, Kentucky, heads Kelly G. Knight, LLC, a Lexington-based business advisory firm.
She has also been on the Salvation Army Board of Directors and on the board of the Center for Rural Development, a nonprofit dedicated to economic progress in rural Kentucky. She is a co-founder of the Craft Academy for Science and Mathematics at Morehead State Universit.
She and her husband, Joe Craft, the chief executive of Alliance Resource Partners, a large Kentucky coal producer, are UK alumnus.
The U.S. Embassy is located in Ottawa.
(Photo courtesy of Kentucky Today)
