Emmanual A. Guillory is an advocate, policy expert, and motivational speaker who currently serves as the Senior Director of Government Relations at the American Council on Education (ACE). In this role, he manages an extensive portfolio of legislative and regulatory issues as a primary government relations resource for the broader higher education community to the United States Congress, the White House, the United States Department of Education, and other agencies as warranted. His portfolio includes a primary emphasis on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA)—especially Title IV programs—and the budget and appropriations process. Other issues within his portfolio include accreditation; college costs; student aid; institutional accountability; institutional aid in Titles III and V of the HEA; oversight; privacy; technology; accessibility; and disability, among others.

Previously, Guillory served as the Director of Student and Institutional Aid Policy at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), leading the private, nonprofit sector of higher education on policies such as student financial aid; institutional aid programs in Titles III and V of the HEA; and certain regulatory issues. He also served as the Director for Public Policy and Government Affairs at United Negro College Fund, Inc. (UNCF) for two years and served a decade in the House of Representatives, most recently as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He is a 2020 and 2021 recipient of the Hill’s Top Lobbyist recognition in Washington, DC; a recipient of the Top Executive Award from Marquis Who’s Who of America; a prior federal negotiator for the Department of Education in 2019 and 2022; and a former president of the Committee for Education Funding—the largest educational coalition in our country—in 2022. He has his own nonprofit organization where he awards scholarships to students, and he serves as a lecturer through the Archers Fellowship Program in the University of Texas System. He has appeared in Inside Higher Ed, The Washington Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and U.S. News & World Report, among other media outlets.

Guillory earned his bachelor of science in psychology from Texas A&M University where he also serves on the leadership council through the Association of Former Students. He also obtained his master of arts in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University where he serves on the Alumni Board of Directors and on the leadership council in the College of Education and Human Development. Most recently, he earned his doctorate degree from the Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management program at the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania.