[2] Motley earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Samford University in 1996, where he graduated Omicron Delta Kappa.

[5] Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, he served as director of the Office of International Visitors in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

Prior to that, he had served as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush for Presidential Personnel, where he managed the appointment process in the White House for over 1,200 presidentially-appointed advisory board and commission positions.

He joined the White House staff as Deputy Associate Director, Office of Presidential Personnel in 2001 at the age of 27 immediately after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

In June 2006, his life story was featured in The Washington Post as part of the series "Being a Black Man in America."