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Our leadership

Travis Johnson

Travis Johnson

Managing Principal

With 15 years of leadership experience in Congress, Travis has worked with prominent members of key House and Senate committees. These include banking and finance, energy and commerce, and appropriations, among others. Since 2016, he has advised small to Fortune 500 companies and trade associations across the financial services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, security, and transportation industries.

Travis was named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Travis spent almost seven years in the Louisiana delegation, ending as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Senator David Vitter, Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee and a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee where he developed a strong working relationship with the current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA). While there, he formed a reputation of forging unexpected bipartisan partnerships to pass legislation. Travis’ relationships span the Speaker’s office, Congress, the Administration, and banking regulators, including the SBA, FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve, CFTC, OCC, and Export-Import Bank.

Select Bipartisan Legislative Accomplishments:

  • Worked with Speaker Johnson and his staff on issues facing the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees, including provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act and launching an antitrust investigation into abuses of the shareholder proxy process.
  • Assisted his clients in successfully passing a legislative fix for the transition from LIBOR through the United States Senate by unanimous consent.
  •  Implemented successful passage of Vitter (R-LA)-Pryor (D-AR) Amendment protecting non-financial companies from Dodd-Frank.
  • Navigated Senate passage of Vitter (R-LA)-Shaheen (D-NH) legislation that raised cap for expired SBA 7(a) loan program funding, preserving it for small businesses.
  •  Worked closely with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to pass one of the only bipartisan bills to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie and cap CEOs’ pay.
  • Led passage of the Gleason Act, one of the few bipartisan bills of the day to allow patients with diseases to lead more independent lives.

 

Emily Threadgill

Vice President

Emily Threadgill has over a decade of experience in both the public and private sectors. At 1607 Strategies, she works with clients across diverse sectors, including insurance, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and security. Emily advises clients on a variety of issues, including but not limited to environmental matters, pharmaceutical and healthcare policies, payment systems, competition and antitrust law, SEC rules, CFPB rules for consumer lending, and student loan issues.

Prior to joining 1607 Strategies, Emily served as the director of scheduling and external affairs for the Small Business Administration. During her time at SBA, Emily witnessed the inception of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). She is known for her solid understanding of the intersection of politics, policy, and communication, and she knows which stakeholders to engage to get things done.

Emily has extensive relationships with members of Congress and key state officials. Before returning to the public sector, she was the director of member services at the Republican National Committee and the executive director of the Republican Secretaries of State Committee. Additionally, she worked in the private sector managing the lobbying efforts of several Fortune 100 companies.

Growing up outside of Washington, DC, Emily always had an interest in politics. She began her career interning for then Minority Whip Eric Cantor and worked her way up, becoming the deputy director of member services when he was Majority Leader, where she worked directly with members of Congress and their chiefs of staff. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Rollins College.

Monique Michel

General Counsel

Monique is a policy attorney with two decades of legal experience, including federal legislative and regulatory lobbying, litigation and appellate advocacy, and public relations and strategic communications. Monique previously served as Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), where she managed industry regulatory examination and supervision issue advocacy. Prior to joining CUNA, Monique lobbied for Credit Suisse’s D.C. Public Policy office on tax and economic policy, banking law and regulation, global reputational risk, and federal election compliance.

Monique has held legal counsel positions at the American Bankers Association (ABA), the American Insurance Association (now-APCIA), and ACA International. At ACA, she represented the debt collection industry on CFPB and FCC advocacy and compliance. While at ABA, she handled cross-border legal and compliance issues, and represented the association’s international affiliate, BAFT, for which she also served as Corporate Secretary. Monique began her career on Capitol Hill, focused on House Energy and Commerce Committee matters, and at the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations.

Monique is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and the College of William and Mary, and has completed professional programs through the Securities Industry Institute at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and the ABA/American Bar Association Banking and Financial Law program at Boston University. She currently hangs her hat in Tennessee with her family and rescue dogs.