C. V. Madhukar

C. V. Madhukar
Born	1968 India
Occupation	Public policy research
Known for	PRS Legislative Research and Co-Develop

C. V. Madhukar (born 1968) is an Indian public policy leader and impact investor. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Co-Develop, a global nonprofit fund that supports countries in building inclusive and equitable digital public infrastructure (DPI). ^{[1] [2]} He was previously an Investment Partner at the Omidyar Network, where he led the firm’s global work on digital identity. ^[3]

Education

Madhukar holds a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, ^[4] where he was an Edward S. Mason Fellow. ^[3] He earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Bangalore University. ^[3]

Career

Madhukar began his career in 1993 as an investment banker with ICICI Securities and Finance Company in Mumbai, where he worked on the disinvestment of large public sector enterprises. ^{[5] [6]}

He contributed to the early growth of the education NGO Pratham and was part of its original executive group in Mumbai. ^[7] In 2000, at the invitation of the Government of Karnataka, he co-founded and managed the Akshara Foundation, an education initiative in Bengaluru. ^[8] Around the same time, he helped establish the Azim Premji Foundation, which supports the use of technology in rural schools. ^[3]

Madhukar later worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., focusing on parliamentary capacity-building across emerging economies. ^[9]

In 2005, he co-founded PRS Legislative Research, a nonpartisan institution that provides analysis of the work of the Parliament of India. ^[10] PRS publishes legislative briefs on bills and provides nonpartisan research support to Members of Parliament. ^[11]

Madhukar was later an Investment Partner and Managing Director at the Omidyar Network, where he led its global work on digital identity and digital public infrastructure. ^{[12] [3]} In this role, he also oversaw work on governance and citizen engagement in India and Myanmar. ^[3]

Since 2022, Madhukar has served as CEO of Co-Develop. In this role, he works with governments, multilaterals, and philanthropies to help countries design and implement DPI systems such as digital identity, payment platforms, and data exchange systems. ^[13] At the 2024 Global DPI Summit in Cairo, he called for more than 100 DPI implementations worldwide by 2025, describing the effort as “laying the plumbing” for digital transformation. ^{[14] [15]}

Fellowships and recognition

Madhukar is a Fellow of Echoing Green, Ashoka, and Eisenhower Fellowships. ^{[16] [3]} In 2008, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. ^{[17] [18]}

References

1. "CV Madhukar, CEO". www.codevelop.fund. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
2. "C V Madhukar". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
3. "YGL list November 2020" (PDF). World Economic Forum. 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
4. Class of 2004 Archived 12 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine on the page of the Edward S. Mason Program Archived 10 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine of the Harvard University
5. "An Information Architecture for RTI" (PDF). csi-sigegov.org.in.
6. "Lunch with BS: M R Madhavan". business-standard.com.
7. "Learning to read: ASER Discussion Series – Volume 2" (PDF). Pratham Resource Centre. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2007.
8. Akshara Foundation Board on IndianNGOs.com ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
9. John K. Johnson (2005). "The Role of Parliament in Government" (PDF). World Bank Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011.
10. "PRS Core Team". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
11. "C.V. Madhukar: His work on Bills makes it easy for MPs to take part in debates". Mint. 21 May 2007.
12. "CV Madhukar". Omidyar Network. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018.
13. "Digital public infrastructure is the new mantra for Global South, says CV Madhukar". The Indian Express. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
14. "A humanity-scale digital public infrastructure". GovInsider. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
15. "Co-Develop spearheads a global opportunity for DPI adoption". The Rockefeller Foundation. 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
16. CV Madhukar: Parliamentary Research Service (PRS) ^{[ permanent dead link ]} on the page of Echoing Green
17. "Young Global Leaders on Davos". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
18. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2008.