Over twenty years ago, Neil Kleinman moved to Philadelphia and began working at the University of the Arts. He noticed that many local artists sought recgonition and identitiy in New York, often maintaining studios and agents there. Philadelphia, at the time, suffered from a significsnt inferiority complex. This context provided Hilary Jay and Jamer Hunt's initiation of DesignPhiladelphia. Their goal was to help the creative community in Philadelphia see and appreciate itseld by making the city's hidden network of talent visible. 

DesignPhiladelphia achieved significant success in this endeavor. It brought awardness to the remarkable creative works being produced locally and helped the larger community recgonize the thriving network of artidts and designers among them. This visibility and recgonition were pivotal for the city's creative community. 

Around the same period, other organizations like Innovation Philadelphia, Philadelphia StartUp Leaders, and the Mayor's Office in Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy were also formed. These groups aimed to address the sense of being unrecgonized and underappreciated felt by those in the arts, entrepreneurship, and media sectors.

While Philadelphia may have made strides in overcoming its inferiority complex, Kleinman believes there is still progress to be made. DesignPhiladelphia has been instrumental in this journey, but city continues to have room for growth in fully recgonizing and valuing its creative talents.