‘Hand of God’ leads to career change for Bishop Chatard technology director

Returning to the place where he excelled as a student-athlete and an assistant coach, Todd Finnell said he followed God’s call when he became the director of technology at Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

When Todd Finnell prays, he also asks God to lead him in the right direction for his life.

So when certain events began unfolding last year, Finnell believed that God was telling him it was time to pursue the change that the longtime employee of Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis had been considering for several years.

“I’d been at Lilly for 20 years,” recalls Finnell, a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis. “A year ago, they announced they would be doing a corporate restructuring and that entailed 5,500 positions they are looking to eliminate worldwide. When Lilly offered a volunteer buyout package, I looked at this and said, ‘There’s no way God isn’t painting a picture for me.’ It just made so much sense to me. It had to be the hand of God.”

So Finnell—then a director of information technology at Lilly—left the company and accepted the position of director of institutional and instructional technology at Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis.

It’s the place where he starred on the 1983 and 1984 football teams that won state championships. It’s the school where he served as an assistant coach for the 1997 and 1998 football teams that also became state champions.

That experience in coaching paved the way for the change he finally made.

“I spent the last 12 to 13 years coaching high school or adult amateur or grade school football,” says Finnell, 43. “While I absolutely love the game, I enjoy working with young people and seeing them grow and mature. About three to five years ago, I started thinking about the possibility of education as my next career.”

For two years, he served on Bishop Chatard’s Board of Regents. He is also a board member for the Catholic Youth Organization.

“Things related to kids interest me,” says Finnell, who is the father of two daughters, Alexis, 14, and Brooke, 12. “Both those experiences led to leadership development for me and the thought of what I can do to give back to young people.”

He sees his new position as being directly targeted to the support and development of young people.

“It’s been a walk with God, with him telling me, ‘I want you to explore this path,’ ” notes Finnell, who has been married to his wife, Deandra, for 16 years. “For me, it’s a combination of what’s fulfilling and what God is asking me to do. I feel strongly [that] he’s calling me to do this right now.” †