Strategy & market entry
Whether a market is worth entering, and how — from first evaluation through entity, licensing, and the first year of operation. Done from the inside at Jetex, advised on since.
Available for board appointments
Sunny Jensen-Landeros
Independent director and advisor · Former Group CEO and Chief Strategy Officer
A senior executive with fifteen years operating in the United Arab Emirates and fourteen in the United States before that — including a group chief executive role across 20+ entities in five countries — bringing boards direct experience of how decisions are made, partnerships built, and risk managed on both sides of the US–Gulf relationship.
Her value to a board is sharpest where a company’s strategy involves the Gulf — market entry, a partnership with a regional or sovereign-linked counterpart, or a US business whose growth now depends on getting the region right.
Where she adds value to a board
Six competencies, each earned in an operating role.
Gulf–US governance
Translating between a US board’s compliance and oversight expectations and the way business is actually done across the Gulf — from a group CEO seat in ADGM.
Commercial partnerships
Identifying, negotiating, and managing partnerships with regional, institutional, and family-owned counterparts — including the ones that should not be done.
Brand & market positioning
CMO-scope leadership at Jetex and Quintessentially: how an organisation is understood by clients, partners, regulators, and the public — and how that shapes commercial outcomes.
Business aviation
Brand, partnerships, and reputation across FBO, fuel, and charter at Jetex; aircraft acquisition, management, and fleet-structuring advisory through her own practice.
Critical materials & clean energy
Chief Strategy Officer of a US critical-materials company; oversaw a hydrogen clean-cooking technology from concept to Imperial College-validated unit and registered patent.
Profile
Career at a glance.
- Executive roles Group Chief Executive Officer · Chief Strategy Officer · Global Brand & Communications Director Group leadership across 20+ entities; strategy for a US critical-materials company; CMO-scope leadership in business aviation.
- Gulf experience Fifteen years based in the United Arab Emirates Deepest in the UAE and Oman; working experience in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; reach across the wider Gulf.
- US experience Fourteen years in the United States Real estate development and commercial leasing in Oregon; consumer-brand sales and marketing in Texas; founder of an Austin marketing and events company.
- Sectors Business aviation · Critical materials & clean energy · Private-client services · Healthcare logistics · Real estate development Relationship-driven sectors in which institutional and cultural context determine outcomes.
- Affiliations Forbes Communications Council, 2018–2022 Texas Tech University, BA Business Administration
- Based Abu Dhabi, UAE and Austin, Texas
Career history
Thirty years, two markets.
- Apr 2025 – present Founder & Executive Partner, 4Pearls · Abu Dhabi, UAE A principal-led international strategic advisory working between the United States and the Gulf.
- Jun 2022 – Jul 2026 Chief Strategy Officer (fractional), Refacture, Inc. · Washington, DC A critical-materials company founded in 2020, recovering and manufacturing rare earths, silicon carbide, and other strategic inputs for semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced industry. Led market-opportunity research, partnership development, and brand and positioning from inception; represented the company in grant and partnership discussions with EU bodies and US government agencies.
- Oct 2021 – Apr 2025 Group Chief Executive Officer, Aquarius Global · ADGM, Abu Dhabi A multi-sector group of 20+ entities across the UAE, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Kenya, spanning healthcare logistics, safety training, water technology, and clean energy. Responsible for group strategy, stakeholder engagement, and performance oversight. Oversaw the group’s hydrogen clean-cooking technology from concept to a working unit validated by Imperial College London Consultants, with a registered patent.
- Jan 2020 – Oct 2021 Independent Consultant — Strategy, Brand & Aviation Advisory · Dubai ExecuJet Middle East (Luxaviation Group): brand and marketing strategy across FBO, charter, aircraft management, MRO, and fuel through the COVID-19 period. Engaged by KPMG (Dubai) on the restructuring of a leading regional news publisher during its transition from print to digital. Aircraft acquisition, management, and fleet-structuring advisory for private clients.
- Nov 2017 – Dec 2019 Global Brand & Communications Director (CMO scope), Jetex · Dubai Business aviation — FBO, fuel, and charter for private, corporate, and government clients. Reporting directly to the founder and CEO, with responsibility for brand, strategic partnerships, and reputation across all markets as the company expanded into Europe and the Americas. Partnerships included HondaJet’s Middle East representation.
- Mar 2014 – Nov 2017 Group Director of Marketing & Business Development, Quintessentially MENA · Dubai Regional leadership of client strategy, strategic partnerships, and customer experience for a global private-client platform across 60+ international offices. Portfolio included ADCB, British Airways, Mastercard, St. Regis, Vertu, Swarovski, and the region’s BMW, Rolls-Royce, and McLaren importers. Advised the chief executive of ADCB on data and service strategy for the bank’s most important private clients.
- Apr 2011 – Mar 2014 Independent Consultant — Brand, Marketing & Events · Dubai Freelance advisory for international companies operating in the Gulf, including engagements for AVANTGARDE, the German brand-experience agency.
- 2004 – Mar 2011 Founder & Principal, Austintatious Marketing & Events · Austin, Texas Built and ran a marketing and events company serving private and corporate clients, including corporate events for Dell. Featured in The Knot.
- 2001 – 2004 Sales & Marketing, North Texas, Dermalogica · Texas Advised salon and retail partners on marketing, product education, and industry trends to grow their businesses.
- 1997 – 2001 Leasing Agent to Vice President, Marketing — Great West Construction & Marathon Management · Oregon A developer and manager of fourteen residential communities across the Pacific Northwest and an early mover in mixed-use development. Progressed from leasing to property management, to licensed commercial leasing (tenants including Blockbuster and Domino’s), to marketing and tenant-mix strategy for new mixed-use communities.
Appointments
The roles she is seeking.
Of particular interest: US companies with an active or emerging Gulf strategy; Gulf-based organisations building their US relationships; family offices and private companies at the point of international expansion; and organisations in business aviation, critical materials and clean energy, hospitality, real estate, or technology where regional context shapes the decision.
Appointments are considered on a conflict-checked basis alongside her advisory practice.
How she works in the boardroom
Understanding before advice. Direct counsel, delivered with care. Attention to the detail that others treat as administrative. And a preference for the durable outcome over the expedient one.
Diligence
References and further information.
References from executives, partners, and institutional counterparts across the UAE and the
United States can be provided at the appropriate stage, with the consent of those involved.
A fuller career history is available on request.