Free to Choose Network Announces New President and CEO

ERIE, PA--(Marketwired - July 31, 2017) - After an extensive search for the perfect match, Free To Choose Network (FTCN), a global media company, today announced Robert Chatfield has been appointed by the Board of Directors as the new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2017. Chatfield will replace Bob Chitester, Founder and Chairman of the Board, who will be stepping aside as President and CEO.

"It has been a lengthy procedure, but well worth the wait," said Chitester, who will continue as Chairman and will work on specific projects already in development. "Rob brings the trifecta we were seeking in enthusiasm, vision and professional experience. I have every confidence that he will guide and guard this organization's legacy for the next 30 years."

FTCN was especially intrigued with Chatfield's experience interweaving the business and academic worlds. For the past five years, he was CFO of Fluid Imaging Technologies, a manufacturer of scientific instruments. Prior to that, he served as a merger and acquisition advisor to private companies. He previously worked in corporate finance roles with Banknorth Group (now TD Bank) and Polaroid Corporation.

Starting his career with the non-profit Pioneer Institute, a market oriented research institute based in Boston, Chatfield has maintained a proactive role in academia for 20 years, teaching as an adjunct faculty member for many organizations. Rob is currently affiliated with Syracuse University's on-line MBA program and Suffolk University's finance department, where he earned his M.S. in Finance.

"I am honored, humbled and very excited to lead Free To Choose Network into the future," said Chatfield. "Bob Chitester and a 27-person team have built an exceptional organization and I look forward to joining them in promoting personal, political and economic freedom as the surest means toward advancing the well-being of humanity."

Chatfield is a lifelong learner, community servant and an adventurer. He served a one-year visiting professor assignment at Suffolk's campus in Dakar, Senegal and has participated in several humanitarian missions with Rotary International.

FTCN also announced that Chitester will continue as Chairman of the Board and continue to work on several current FTCN projects, including an upcoming documentary on the Constitution, a TV biography of Tom Sowell, a program and book on the Swedish economic model and the launch of the summer home of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman as a center for advancing his public policy ideas.

About Free To Choose Network

Free To Choose Network is a 501(c)(3) global media company which produces thought-provoking documentaries, offering diverse voices, powerful stories and a fresh perspective on a range of important global and national issues through its production company, Free To Choose Media. For more than 30 years, the Free To Choose production teams have traveled the world to explore topics such as the hard questions American foreign policy leaders face in dealing with a rapidly changing world order, the economic roots of the Arab Spring and the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs raising themselves and their communities out of poverty. For more information, visit the website, at www.FreeToChooseNetwork.org. In addition to producing stimulating documentaries, FTCN also reaches out to the next generation with its educational site, www.izzit.org, offering classroom teachers and their students, educational teaching units encouraging critical thinking about civics, entrepreneurship, political economy, the sciences and more.