Executive Director, Central Asian Policy Studies
Aida is a Kazakh human rights lawyer, with over two decades of experience in the civil society sector. Currently, she leads CAPS Unlock, a spin-off of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan at Open Society Foundations. This new regional think-and-do-tank is dedicated to promoting public policies that safeguard democracy and the rule of law, alongside boosting climate education in the Central Asia region.
Since 2009, Aida has held pivotal roles, including Law Reform Programme Director and later Programmes Director at Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan, eventually ascending to the position of Chair of the Executive Council in 2019. Before her tenure with the foundation, Aida served as the deputy director of the Almaty branch of the Institute for Law Monitoring, Expertise, and Analysis, a local think-tank where she was responsible for comparative-legal analysis of draft laws initiated by the Government of Kazakhstan.
Aida obtained a PhD in Law from Kunayev University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.