David Madden (Australia)

David Madden is an Australian entrepreneur associated with progressive causes. He is a co-founder of GetUp! a web-based political movement, and Avaaz, a global advocacy movement.

Madden grew up in Canberra and served as an Army officer before studying Arts and Law at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Madden served as president of the University of New South Wales Student Guild.

After winning the University Medal in History, Madden was awarded Fulbright and Frank Knox scholarships to study at the Kennedy School of Government Harvard University, where he completed his master's degree in public policy. He met Jeremy Heimans, with whom he would later co-found GetUp and Avaaz, waiting for a scholarship interview panel while studying at Harvard. Madden and Heimans became involved in the Harvard Living Wage campaign in 2001, and Madden credits it as their first political collaboration.

Madden has worked for the World Bank in Timor Leste, and for the United Nations in Indonesia. He is the co-author of Imagining Australia: Ideas for Our Future (Allen & Unwin, 2004), with economist turned federal MP Andrew Leigh, Macgregor Duncan, and Peter Tynan.

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