Uncertain of a path after high school, David Madden spent a year on bicycles and organic farms in Ireland and Costa Rica. Although he returned to the United States with less of a path than a passion, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study people and environment geography. Three years later he had built a foundation to sustain his passion. He spent a summer in the backcountry with the Student Conservation Association before returning to Madison. He helps to build green houses and young conservationists with Operation Fresh Start, an AmeriCorps affiliate. David moonlights as a community organizer, facilitating Environmental Action Teams for the Madison Environmental Group.