Mary Kaye Huntsman (née Cooper; September 10, 1961)[1] is an American activist and the wife of Jon Huntsman Jr. She launched and developed Bag of Hope and Power in You, programs that help children and teenagers deal with the emotional side of adversity with peer-to-peer and grownup support.

She attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City where she met Jon Huntsman Jr.

They started dating when they worked together at a Salt Lake City Marie Callender's Pie Shop.

[3] While working in Washington, D.C., Cooper ran into Jon Huntsman, Jr., who was part of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, and the couple began dating seriously.

She previously served as Honorary Chair of the Literacy Commission and the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

[10] While serving as Utah's First Lady, Huntsman built on her experience with Bag of Hope, and started a program called Power in You, aimed at helping youth who had to deal with a variety of adversities.

Bag of Hope has grown to become a national program headed by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

She shared with the Chinese her personal loss: her sister died of acute lung cancer at the age of 34.

She spent many of her days with diplomatic families, helping rebuild morale during a distinctly challenging time.

[9] Mark Halperin of Time magazine says, "she has political gifts that rival her husband's and a Southern/Sunshine State upbringing that will be a major asset.