Chrysta Peoples

Chrysta Peoples (AOF '98) credits her experience at the Academy of Finance at Golightly Career and Technical Center in Detroit, MI, for giving her the foundation for a successful career working at a technology-based expatriate services company.
 
“Not doing well in school or seeking degrees in higher education were never a consideration.  My parents were educators who instilled the importance of education at a very early age,” Chrysta says. So when she first learned about NAF, she knew that it would be a great opportunity.

Chrysta says that the academy equipped her for life’s social, academic, and professional challenges by giving her access to more advanced courses such as accounting and finance, competitions with Business Professionals of America where she placed 4th in the state in Prepared Speech, other opportunities to speak publicly such as at her academy’s commencement ceremony, field trips to places like the Federal Reserve, and resources like the Bloomberg terminal in her classroom. She also learned the importance of networking and of having a mentor.

Hank Hubbard, Chairman of Golightly’s AOF board, became Chrysta’s mentor after meeting her during her sophomore year of high school, over 15 years ago. He continues to be her mentor to this day.

During high school Chrysta had internships at Communicating Arts Credit Union, where Hank is the President and CEO, and Smith Barney. The internships planted seeds in the development of her current career path in information technology.

It was during college when Chrysta started taking accounting and finance courses at Western Michigan University that she truly realized the value of her academy education. A comparison of her work and those of her peers demonstrated the difference that the academy made.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude and earning her B.A., Chrysta stayed at Western Michigan University and earned her Master of Business Administration through the Thurgood Marshall Fellowship, a highly competitive award that recognized her academic achievement. She is currently the Database Administrator at Global LT, Inc. in Troy, MI. Since she began her employment there in 2005, she has been a proven asset to the company. She single-handedly developed and implemented a master database for 80 internal employees and 7500+ external users. This fully customized and automated database improves work efficiency and helped the company grow over 24% since 2006 when it was implemented.

Beyond her success in both academics and career, Chrysta is also a wife and mother to three girls and gives back to her academy by attending events, consulting with the advisory board committee, and serving as a mentor to current students.

Chrysta Peoples is a 2011 NAF Alumni Honoree.