Junior Finance Major Builds on National Internship Success
Peoples Builds on National Internship Success
Alabama A&M University junior Autumn Peoples is continuing to turn classroom preparation, campus leadership and professional experience into opportunities with some of the nation’s leading companies.
Peoples, an honors finance major with a minor in computer science from Spring Hill, Tennessee, has accepted an offer to join BlackRock’s 2027 Summer Internship Program. She will work with the firm’s U.S. Wealth Advisory Group in Princeton, New Jersey, from June through August 2027.
The highly competitive internship is open to students beyond HBCUs, making the opportunity especially meaningful to Peoples as she prepares to represent AAMU and its College of Business and Public Affairs in the investment management industry.
“I am most looking forward to gaining hands-on experience within BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory business and learning how one of the world’s largest financial institutions serves clients, develops investment solutions and approaches wealth management,” Peoples said. “I am also excited to learn directly from professionals in the industry, strengthen my technical and client-facing skills and gain a deeper understanding of the investment management business.”
The BlackRock internship adds another major experience to a résumé Peoples has steadily built during her time on The Hill.
Autumn Peoples completed a Summer 2025 internship with Lockheed Martin in Huntsville, Alabama, as a finance and business operations intern, gaining hands-on experience supporting financial operations for aerospace and defense programs.
She spent summer 2025 as a finance and business operations intern with Lockheed Martin in Huntsville and later participated in The Coca-Cola Co.’s Start Your Legacy HBCU Externship. She was selected as a 2025-26 Milken Institute HBCU Fellow and spent summer 2026 as a financial services enterprise intern with Truist Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina, working within Consumer and Small Business Banking. She is also a two-time Thurgood Marshall College Fund Leadership Institute scholar.
Peoples said her interest in finance began with a desire to understand how money, investments and financial institutions affect people’s lives and opportunities. Through her college and professional experiences, that interest has developed into a passion for wealth and investment management, with a particular interest in helping individuals and families build, manage and preserve wealth.
Her accomplishments extend beyond internships. Peoples is a member of the AAMU Honors Program and serves as an Honors Program mentor. She was named Mentor of the Year for the 2025-26 academic year and previously served as vice president of the AAMU chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants. She has also served as a resident assistant and was named RA of the Year for Hugine Complex for 2025-26. Peoples currently serves as first vice president of the Gamma Mu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
For Peoples, those experiences reflect what she says Alabama A&M has made possible since she arrived on The Hill.
“My time on The Hill has been transformative,” Peoples said. “Alabama A&M has challenged me academically while giving me opportunities to develop as a leader and professional.”
Autumn Peoples completed a Summer 2026 internship with Truist Financial’s Consumer and Small Business Banking team in Charlotte, North Carolina.
She also hopes her success encourages other AAMU students to pursue opportunities in industries and companies where HBCU students may have historically had less exposure.
“Alabama A&M has taught me that you do not have to wait for someone else to create a pipeline for you,” Peoples said. “Sometimes you have to be willing to enter a space first, perform at a high level and leave the door open for the people coming behind you.”
Peoples expects to graduate in May 2028 and plans to pursue a career in financial services, focusing on wealth and investment management. Her long-term goal is to become a senior leader in the industry while helping expand financial education, access and professional opportunities for communities and students who have traditionally had less exposure to the field.
As she prepares for BlackRock next summer, Peoples said she also views the opportunity as a chance to increase AAMU’s visibility within the financial services industry.
“Every opportunity I receive is an opportunity to put Alabama A&M’s name in another room,” Peoples said. “My goal is not only to perform well at BlackRock but to increase the visibility of AAMU and the College of Business and Public Affairs so that the next time a Bulldog applies, someone at that company already knows the caliber of students Alabama A&M produces.”