Convention Speakers
Bernie Moreno
U.S. Senator
Bernie Moreno was born in Bogota, Colombia. He moved to the United States with his family at age five and became an American citizen at age 18. Bernie purchased his first car dealership in 2005 and grew that one dealership into one of the largest dealership groups in America, eventually employing over 1,000 Ohioans. More recently, in 2016, Bernie recognized the value and transformational potential of blockchain technology, before it received mainstream attention, and moved much of his volunteer time and investment dollars into the space.
Bernie believes that Ohioans deserve better than what they’ve gotten from Washington, and he will fight to better their lives in the United States Senate.
Jake Diebler
Men's Head Basketball Coach
Ohio State University
Diebler has been at Ohio State for a total of eight seasons. He was a video coordinator with the program from 2014-16 and then returned as an assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 season. He was promoted to associated head coach before the 2021-22 season and then was named interim head coach on Feb. 14, 2024.
The first Ohioan to be named Ohio State’s head coach in 35 years, Diebler led the Buckeyes to a 6-2 record in his time as the interim head coach. The first of those six wins came in his first game as the interim coach and in stunning fashion, over No. 2 Purdue on Feb. 19. Ohio State lost at Minnesota in its next game, but then won five consecutive games: at Michigan State, vs. Nebraska, vs. Michigan, at Rutgers and over Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Prior to his first stint with the Buckeyes, Jake coached at Valparaiso with Bryce Drew, where he was part of a staff which helped lead Valparaiso to 22 wins and the regular-season championship in 2012, the first by Valpo since joining the Horizon League. Diebler, who also worked for Drew at Vanderbilt, helped the Crusaders to a berth in the 2012 Postseason National Invitation Tournament. In the 2012-13 season, the Crusaders posted a 26-8 overall record, won the Horizon League regular-season championship for consecutive years, and a berth in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Diebler served as director of basketball operations during the 2010-11 season, helping the Crusaders to a 23-win season.
As a player at Valparaiso, Diebler ranked among the Horizon League Top 10 in a trio of categories as a senior, finishing fourth in minutes played (33.8/game), sixth in 3-pointers made (1.8/game) and eighth in steals (1.3/game). He finished his Crusader career 10th with 130 career steals and 16th all-time at Valpo with 229 career assists.
Also a standout in the classroom, Diebler earned Academic All-League honors and Horizon League Academic Honor Roll mention during his career, as well as being named to the NABC Honors Court. Diebler graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Valparaiso in May 2009 and with an MBA in 2011.
Coaching runs in the family for Diebler. His father Keith, coached high school basketball in the state of Ohio for almost 40 years, while his older brother Jeremiah coached high school basketball as well. His younger brother, Jon, is currently the director of recruiting at Butler University. Jake and his wife, the former Jordyn Ellwood, from Columbus and an Ohio State graduate, have two young daughters, Jaymes and Jessa as well as two young sons, Jackson and Julien.
Ron Stokes
Former OSU Basketball Player and President & CEO
Three Leaf Productions
In 1985 Ron graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and was a member of the Men's basketball team from 1981-85. His teammates voted Ron as captain during his junior and senior years. After his final season, Ron earned All-Big Ten honors and was the team's MVP.
Ron purchased Three Leaf Productions in February of 2003, and as President & CEO, he is the visionary leader and critical decision-maker. Relying on his experience and judgment, he plans and directs all aspects of the organization's policies, objectives, and initiatives to accomplish Three Leaf's goals.
In addition, Ron and his wife Lavita founded LARS Properties, LLC in 2015 and share the ownership with each of their four children. The company's services include property management, real estate investment, and commercial painting. Over the last six years, LARS has received and completed major painting contracts with some of the top General Contractors in the country. In 2018 LARS Properties received the top family business award by OhioMBE.
LARS Properties, LLC real estate investment business portfolio includes residential & commercial properties in Columbus and apartment/condominium complexes in Ohio.
This basketball season marks his 28th year as the on-air expert analyst for his Alma Mater's Men's Basketball radio network. Over his broadcast career, he has covered three Final Fours, one NIT championship, and eight NCAA regionals.
He currently serves on the board of Heartland Bank, THE Foundation, and Canton Outside of Canton. COOC operates in his hometown of Canton and has organized food giveaways in that provided meals for over 1,000 families during each holiday season. Ron was honored as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes 2022 Legend and inducted into the Greater Columbus Basketball Legends Hall of Fame 2023 class.
Heather "Lucky" Penney
Senior Fellow
Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Power
Most widely recognized for her service on September 11, Heather “Lucky” Penney was part of the first wave of women who went directly into fighters from pilot training. The first and only woman in the 121st Fighter Squadron, Heather deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom for initial combat operations as a night-time SCUD Hunter in the western deserts of Iraq, also supporting Special Operations Forces. She flew the F-16 for ten years before having to make the difficult decision to leave the fighter aviation as a single mother. She then flew the special airlift mission and retired out of the Pentagon.
For over ten years, Heather was a Director of various Air Force programs for Lockheed Martin, specializing in capture management, government relations, and strategic business development. She now is a Senior Resident Fellow for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies at the Air Force Association, where she is an expert on defense policy issues related to airpower and the Air Force.
Kevin Tynan
Director of Research
The Presidio Group
Kevin joined The Presidio Group in 2024. As director of research, he is responsible for market insights, content creation and client engagement focused on the U.S. franchised dealer network and automotive technologies segments. With 25 years of investment research experience, Kevin began his career as an equity analyst at Argus Research, covering the global automotive, auto parts and auto retail industries. As a senior analyst, the "Financial Times/StarMine" ranked him the top stock picker for the automobile parts segment in 2007.
In 2009, Kevin became the Global Director of Automotive Research for Bloomberg Intelligence. During his tenure at Bloomberg, Kevin designed, built and maintained global automotive coverage for North America, Europe and Asia-based automakers. The unit became Bloomberg Intelligence as the coverage team expanded to put analyst teams on the ground in each region. Kevin is a regular presenter on automotive and financial television, radio and podcasts. He is recurring public speaker at industry events and company teach-ins, as well as at many dealership state association conventions. He has provided keynote addresses for NADA state dealer associations and for many other automotive industry events.
