 After winning the University Medal in History, Madden was awarded Fulbright and Frank Knox scholarships to study at the Kennedy School of Government at 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.