William Lobeck

William E. Lobeck is co-founder of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation. An entrepreneur, he has a strong desire to help others break down the barriers of successfully launching their own businesses.  He began his career in Norfolk, Virginia creating the first dealer repurchase program and established a special purpose leasing company which became significant financing components of the daily car rental industry.

In 1971, Lobeck became CEO of Dallas-based American International. During his tenure, the company grew from 18 offices to nearly 300 offices across the country. In 1981, Lobeck and partners purchased Thrifty Car Rental in Tulsa. Under Lobeck’s leadership the company’s profitability and growth led to a successful initial public offering in 1987.

 Chrysler acquired Thrifty in 1989 and as CEO Lobeck formed Pentastar Transportation Group and acquired three additional car rental companies.  In 1995, Lobeck together with his wife Kathy Taylor and partners acquired National Car Rental from General Motors. Lobeck then sold National to AutoNation, and he became president and CEO of AutoNation’s Rental Group. Lobeck retired from AutoNation in 1999.

 In 2003, Lobeck and Cerberus Capital Management acquired the assets of Autonation car rental, bringing them out of bankruptcy as Vanguard Car Rental USA and moved the headquarters to Tulsa. The company became one of the industry’s most financially successful companies.  In 2007, Lobeck and partners sold Vanguard to Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

 Lobeck has served on the Boards of Nordam, a Tulsa based aviation and aerospace company, Legal Shield, a provider of legal services, the Board of the Philbrook Museum of Art and a Trustee of the University of Tulsa. Lobeck has been inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame, the TU Business Hall of Fame as Outstanding Business Leader and the Old Dominion University Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. He holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Old Dominion University.

 He enjoys every opportunity to spend time sailing, cruising in one of his classic cars, relaxing at home with pets, Chieftain and Lola, or traveling with family and friends.

Kathy Taylor

Kathy Taylor  co-founded the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation in 1997.

Working her way through college after losing her parents, she experienced firsthand the stress of financial instability, an experience which has guided her work. After a career in law and business, she served as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Commerce, Tourism and Workforce Development. In 2006 she was elected Mayor of Tulsa. She focused on reviving downtown Tulsa through the completion of the award-winning BOK Center and developed a public/private partnership to build a new multi-sports venue for the Tulsa Drillers.  She launched the city’s first entrepreneur business competition and led the city through the worst recession in 70 years. 

Kathy served on the Board of Sonic Corporation, until its $2.3 billion sale to Inspire Brands in 2018.  She has served on the board of Reading Partners, a literacy organization for children.  She is co-founder of ImpactTulsa, a nonprofit aimed at improving education outcomes.  She serves on the board of 36 Degrees North, Tulsa’s basecamp for entrepreneurs and on the advisory board of StitchCrew, a business accelerator.  In 2020, she became a founding member of VEST, a network of C-suite women working together to expedite the pathways for women in positions of influence.

She has been honored by numerous state and local groups including the 2018 Anna C. Roth Legacy Award from YWCA Tulsa, the inaugural Order of the Owl from the OU Oklahoma College of Law,  the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, University of Tulsa College of Law Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Wall of Fame, the Tulsa Historical Society and the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice. 

Kathy enjoys spending time with family and friends – and is frequently seen playing with her grandchildren.  Fun follows her everywhere she goes whether sailing, painting, gardening and traveling, cataloging many cooking classes along the way.

Margaret L. Pellegrini

Molly Lobeck Pellegrini and her husband Hank resided in Tulsa until 2014, but remain active in and dedicated to the Tulsa community with downtown projects and a South Tulsa tennis and health club. Molly and Hank and their four children, Annie, Will, Meg and Charlie recently relocated from Southern California to Eastern Pennsylvania and continue to focus on charitable causes that interact with and impact their family life and activities.

Molly’s time in Tulsa was spent active on several boards, including Tulsa Zoo Management, Tulsa Community Foundation, Philbrook Museum of Art, Route 66 Marathon and YWCA of Tulsa. She has also served on the boards of National Charity League, United States Pony Club and United States Eventing Association.

Her work history includes retail and hospitality management in Boston, Chicago and Tulsa, as well as commercial cash management and treasury services with the Bank of Oklahoma.

Thomas C. Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hertz Global Holdings from 2013 to 2018.  Prior to joining Hertz, Mr. Kennedy served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hilton Worldwide Holdings from 2008 to 2013.  Between 2003 and 2007, Mr. Kennedy served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Vanguard Car Rental, parent company of the National Car Rental and Alamo Rental Car brands. 

Prior to joining Vanguard, Mr. Kennedy served in a number of financial positions with increasing responsibilities from 1992 to 2003 at Northwest Airlines, Inc., a global network airline, including Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller; Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis; Managing Director, Corporate Planning; and, Director Finance and Information Services, Pacific Division, Tokyo, Japan.

Mr. Kennedy graduated from Tulane University, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Economics in 1987 where he also was a three-year letterman swimmer.  Mr. Kennedy received his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University in 1992.  Between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Mr. Kennedy worked for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in their Public Finance investment banking division from 1987 to 1990.