Emmanuel "Manny" Bonilla was born in Lansing, Michigan but was raised in Alabama. He holds a B.S. in Psychology and M.A. in Clinical Psychology. He is a graduate of Stetson University College of Law. While attending Stetson, he completed over 300 hours of pro-bono service at the veteran's advocacy clinic, participated in numerous social justice and advocacy organizations and programs, served on the board of the innocence initiative, was an editor for the veterans law journal, and worked with fellow peers and senators to pass local legislation seeking to lower the requirement of prisoners to serve a minimum term of imprisonment from 85% to 65%. He also completed an additional clinical rotation with Stetson's veterans advocacy clinic and a clinic rotation with the University of Arizona James E. Roger's veteran's advocacy law clinic as a visiting student.

Emmanuel is an Army veteran with deployments to Afghanistan ('07-'08) and Kuwait/Iraq ('09-'10). He currently lives in Tucson, AZ with his wife, youngest daughter, and Rhodesian Ridgeback.