Colleen Kraft

Colleen A. Kraft, MD, MBA, FAAP is the 2019 Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Her background includes work in primary care pediatrics, pediatric education, and health care financing. Dr. Kraft’s earliest education was as a child in the Inaugural class of Head Start in 1965. She received her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and her M.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her MBA from the University of Cincinnati. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Kraft led a pediatric accountable care program at Cincinnati Children’s from 2014-2017. Her financial model incorporated investments to address social determinants of health, population health data-driven quality improvement initiatives and improved payment for primary care services.

Dr. Kraft was the Founding Program Director of the Pediatric Residency at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She developed a Health Care Policy and Management Elective for residents during her time in Roanoke, Virginia. Dr. Kraft’s work in early childhood and population health seeks to translate the goals of health equity into medical practice.

As president of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2018, Dr. Kraft is best known for her advocacy for humane treatment of migrant children at the US-Mexico border. Her explanation to the public regarding the harm to young children during the “Zero Tolerance” policy that included separation of children from parents at the border help to mobilize advocates across the political spectrum to end this policy. She continues to advocate for basic child rights for children at the border.