The CHiDeSchool: Developing Human Capital at Scale

How the CEO of a Kyrgyz microfinance institution is redefining leadership, trust, and financial inclusion for underbanked communities.

A revealing conversation with Chinara Darkenbayevna, CEO of Bailyk Finance in Kyrgyzstan, shows how adapting across industries and applying technical discipline shaped a uniquely effective leader who has built one of the country's most respected microfinance institutions.

Twenty years ago, Chinara began hiring fresh graduates from universities across Kyrgyzstan. But she didn't just employ them – she developed them. Through formal training, daily coaching, and strategic mentorship, she helped shape a generation of professionals who now hold leadership positions in some of the region's most prominent microfinance institutions. The approach became so distinct it earned its own nickname: the "CHiDeSchool."

The impact became clear when a former employee working at a microfinance institution abroad was told by colleagues: "Everyone appreciates you here because you're from ChIDE's school." CHiDe – Chinara Darkenbayevna's initials – had become shorthand for a particular standard of professional excellence.

"It turned out that the education we provided at the time was really strong, and the employees who went through it were genuinely valued," Chinara reflects with characteristic modesty. But the impact extends far beyond individual career advancement. "I have managers from the whole region. Moreover, I hired these employees fresh from university," she explains.

This isn't just about employee retention – though Bailyk Finance's track record is impressive. It's about creating a multiplier effect where one institution's commitment to training elevates an entire sector. Former employees now lead institutions across Central Asia, carrying forward methodologies and standards that improve the whole sector's professionalism.

The Foundation: Technical Thinking Meets Social Impact

"My technical background gave me a foundation for structured thinking, starting in the food industry and growing into finance. That structure and flexibility I learned through engineering still guide me today," Chinara explains.

Her structured thinking shows itself in how she looks at some items, which would be basic and trivial for some as strategic enablers. Chinara ensures every Bailyk Finance office – no matter how remote – has hot water, proper toilets, and microwaves. "It seems basic, but it's surprisingly rare," noted Aizada Sheralieva, investment analyst based in Bishkek and familiar with institutions across the region. Chinara doesn't see this as exceptional; it's simply what people deserve.

This simple commitment serves as an example of how microfinance started driving changes in remote and rural areas of emerging countries. They started setting strong foundations extend beyond capital and credit processes to include the often-overlooked elements that protect the dignity of both clients and staff. Microwaves and refrigerators aren't luxuries – they're necessities for staff working hours away from restaurants or grocery stores. Hot water and proper sanitation aren't conveniences – they're health requirements in regions with harsh winters and limited municipal infrastructure.

Microfinance institutions often employ people from local communities and show them what it means to be treated with dignity, to have opportunity to learn and to grow and to be respected. At the national level, microfinance institutions create competitive advantage in attracting and keeping talent.

But this example also shows how microfinance institutions show respect for the clients they serve in the same rural and remote areas.

Integrity as Infrastructure

In finance, trust isn't a byproduct – it's the infrastructure. For Chinara, honesty isn't a slogan or checkbox; it's the foundation for every loan, partnership, and team decision.

"The most important is honesty. To yourself, to employees, to investors – to everything," she says. "Otherwise, it's impossible to build business. In the financial sphere, it will still come out."

In sectors like microfinance, where reputations travel faster than capital, dishonesty isn't just unethical – it's bad business. What makes Chinara's message resonate is that it's practiced, not just preached. Bailyk Finance's 20-year track record of good performance reflects a culture where transparency drives outcomes.

Chinara's approach reframes honesty from a moral ideal to a strategic advantage: transparent workplaces retain talent, transparent relationships weather shocks, and transparency becomes the architecture of accountability.

True Financial Inclusion: Serving the Underserved

"Our niche is not covered by traditional financial services. We go further than banks," Chinara explains. The numbers tell the story: 58% of Bailyk Finance's borrowers are women, and the majority live in rural areas that traditional banks simply don't serve.

In Kyrgyzstan, where nearly 60% of Bailyk Finance's clients are engaged in agriculture, financial inclusion must go beyond access to capital. Bailyk supplements its lending with on-site financial counseling from credit specialists, who help clients interpret their cash flows and make informed decisions about savings and business growth. For those interested, an educational platform offers resources on business management, legal and tax advice, and financial literacy. By grounding its support in the day-to-day realities of clients' lives, Bailyk enables rural entrepreneurs to build greater resilience and plan more effectively for the future.

The commitment to genuine access appears in practical design choices. All locations include children's corners, recognizing that many women must bring their children when managing their finances. The company offers free access to an online 24/7 medical advice app — used by more than 15,000 clients in the past year — and mobile diagnostic units that have served over 4,000 people in rural areas with services like breast cancer screening. These services reflect a deeper understanding of what genuine access requires.

The relationships that emerge from this approach create remarkable loyalty. Chinara recalls a client who sought her out years after she had moved between companies: "He came to our company again. He looked for me on purpose. He said, I'll take a loan from you again." These aren't just transactions – they're trusted relationships built over decades.

The Business Case for Women-Centered Finance

Development finance often treats gender inclusion as a social goal that requires trade-offs in financial performance. But Bailyk Finance's track record suggests the opposite: centering women – as both clients and employees – drives strong business results while generating meaningful impact.

"Women-clients are more responsible. And we work with them easier," Chinara explains. "They are disciplined." Female borrowers show consistently lower delinquency rates and greater repayment discipline – outcomes reflected in the institution's stable portfolio over two decades.

The same principle applies to staff. "Women employees are more responsible... They value the workplace very much," Chinara notes. Women show higher retention and greater loyalty, especially in supportive, values-driven environments.

What truly sets Bailyk apart is how it has systematically designed services around women's real needs. The children's corners, online medicine with 24/7 access, and mobile diagnostic units aren't perks – they're strategic enablers of economic participation. Over the past year alone, about 15,000 clients have actively used Bailyk's app to receive medical consultations, and more than 4,000 people were examined by a mobile team of doctors. When childcare or healthcare barriers are lowered, women can start and grow businesses more effectively.

Perhaps most significantly, this gender strategy strengthens investor alignment. "Investors care more about reaching women borrowers," Chinara says plainly. "It's easier also to find funding when you are providing loans to women." Social goals and financial sustainability reinforce each other.

Climate Adaptation and Green Finance

Climate change is reshaping agricultural and economic patterns across Kyrgyzstan's rural communities. For Chinara, these changes present both challenges and market opportunities.

"The biggest problem right now is climate change. We see it now, we practically experience it," she explains. Environmental pressures are creating demand for new solutions: water scarcity affects agricultural productivity, overgrazing degrades pastures, and traditional heating methods impose costs while contributing to air pollution.

Farmers show interest in water-efficient irrigation systems, solar panels for energy reliability, and insulation of housing for long-term energy savings. To address affordability, Bailyk Finance has explored various financing tools, including technology partnerships that reduce procurement costs and performance-based structures that link loan terms to demonstrated environmental outcomes.

The sector represents compelling opportunities for investors: cost-saving technologies may improve borrower repayment capacity over time, while early market positioning can provide strategic advantages, and the work offers quantifiable impact metrics for ESG-focused portfolios. As Chinara notes, green solutions work – they just need financial structures that make them affordable for the communities that need them most.

Digital Transformation in Rural Context

The future of financial services is digital – but what does that mean for clients who still prefer cash, live in areas with unreliable internet, and value the personal relationships that define traditional microfinance?

"Young people don't want to come to offices anymore as their parents used to do," observes Chinara. "They want everything to be remote, digitalized." The generational shift is clear, but the infrastructure challenges remain complex.
Change is accelerating. Kyrgyzstan's National Bank eliminated transaction fees for QR code payments, driving rapid adoption. "QR code is just much easier," Chinara explains. "If you make a QR code payment, it is also free."

But complete digitalization poses risks. Traditional credit assessment relies heavily on knowing clients personally, understanding their family situations, and evaluating character alongside financial capacity. Remote digital processes might reduce these relationship-based advantages that are central to microfinance effectiveness.

The solution appears to be hybrid approaches that combine digital convenience with personal service – using mobile apps for instalments tracking while continuing in-person visits for loan assessments. Technology adoption in microfinance can't simply mirror urban banking trends; it must account for infrastructure limitations, cultural preferences, and the relationship-based nature of serving underbanked populations.

Geopolitical Resilience

Impact investors often discuss emerging market risks – currency volatility, regulatory shifts, political instability. But what does it actually look like to successfully operate a financial institution amid such dynamic conditions?

"Regional developments certainly impact our operations," Chinara explains matter-of-factly. "Conflicts in neighbouring countries affect us. Exchange rates shift. Oil prices fluctuate. We've learned to factor these variables into our planning."

That resilience is strategic, not accidental. Bailyk now operates on rolling three-year planning horizons. "I don't want to do a forecast for five years or ten," Chinara explains. "It's not realistic in the current reality. There are climate changes, government changes." Agility and responsiveness have become core competencies.

Lessons for the Future

Chinara Darkenbayevna's journey from engineer to microfinance pioneer offers crucial insights for impact investors and development finance institutions. While Bailyk Finance is only one example, it's approach demonstrates that sustainable social impact often depends on getting the fundamentals right: treating people with dignity, building systems based on integrity, investing seriously in human capital development, and maintaining trust through consistent performance.

For impact investors, the lesson is clear: dignity and data go hand in hand. True impact lies not just in outcomes, but in the integrity of the systems and people that make those outcomes possible. While empathy and vision remain central to social entrepreneurship, structured thinking and technical fluency play crucial roles in ensuring long-term, sustainable impact.

Development finance doesn't just depend on global strategies – it depends on people who know the terrain, listen to local communities, and deliver consistently. Supporting those partners strengthens the system as a whole. Before you can transform communities, you need to create institutions where talented people want to stay and thrive, and where trust becomes the foundation for everything that follows.

About Bailyk Finance

Founded in 2011, Bailyk Finance is one of Kyrgyzstan's leading microfinance institutions, with a mission to create accessible financial solutions for residents of rural areas and small towns. Over 14 years, it has grown from a single office in Kant to a national presence with 50 branches, 94% of which are located in remote regions.

The company offers a diverse range of financial products tailored to client needs, including business loans, agricultural financing, consumer credit, housing improvement loans with energy efficiency elements, and Islamic finance products. Its client-first approach has earned it a 98% customer satisfaction rate as of 2024.

Ranked third in the national non-bank financial sector, Bailyk Finance combines social responsibility with strong governance, guided by an independent board of directors and a management team committed to inclusive, ethical growth.