Hilary Jay
Founding Director // hilary@designphiladelphia.org
Hilary Jay is a curator, design journalist, entrepreneur, and adopted Philadelphian. As a Senior Fellow at The University of the Arts and Founding Director of DesignPhiladelphia, she spreads the gospel of design by creating accessible city-wide programming.
Hilary first entered the design world as a maker. In the glorious 80s, she co-founded Maximal Art with John Wind, an international costume jewelry, watch, and home furnishings company. The handmade work can be found in the permanent collection of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Swarovski collection of 20th-century jewels, and on the bodies and in the homes of some seriously stylish people worldwide.
Hilary moved into journalism in the 90s. In her writing and editorial work, she explored how and why design influences the way we live, work, and play (much as she does now through DesignPhiladelphia). For a decade, she worked as a writer and editor with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Art & Antiques, I.D., Modernism, and Metropolitan Home, among others.
As a curator, Hilary takes design and makes it experiential and easy for people to interact with. Before moving to UArts in 2010, she founded The Design Center at Philadelphia University, where she curated numerous ground-breaking exhibitions including What Is Design Today? and Lace in Translation.
Today, Hilary lives and works in Center City Philadelphia. On her walk to the office, she found that the city has four natural advantages: variety, convenience, discovery, and opportunity, and that everything should be done to protect these advantages. Everything.
“Design is a thread running through everything.” Quotable Hilary-ism.
Jackie Starker
Programming Coordinator // jackie@designphiladelphia.org
As DesignPhiladelphia’s programming coordinator, Jackie works closely with festival participants on planning, providing event inspiration to logistical tips. She also handles DP’s in-house graphic design, online communications, and more. A graduate of The University of the Arts with an industrial design degree, Jackie lives by the mantra, “homemade and handmade.” Beyond DesignPhiladelphia, she operates Pupcakes, Bits & Pieces: an all-natural dog treat bakery, where the packaging looks as good as the doggie treats taste. Home brewed iced coffee, an energizing morning bike ride to work, and a brightly colored cheery ensemble give her the design power needed to help fuel DesignPhiladelphia year-round. Can we just say she’s the Jackie-of-all-trades?
Design favorite: The Uniqlo Wake Up app. Leave it to the Japanese fashion giant to make an alarm clock for the iPhone into a pleasant waking experience! A soft spoken voice wakes you up saying, “Good morning. It’s 8:00AM and it’s a sunny day!” The best part is that the color and response changes with the weather! Try it.
Emaleigh Doley
Special Projects and Public Relations Manager //
emaleigh@designphiladelphia.org // twitter.com/emaleigh
Emaleigh’s world revolves around communication, how we build connections, the stories we tell, and how we share them. With a professional background in creative communications and public relations, Emaleigh has worked across creative disciplines with businesses, nonprofits, cultural and educational organizations in Philadelphia and beyond. She is keen on projects that interact with the public in new ways, cause a scene, work to build community or enhance city life (even greater if it’s all of the above). Emaleigh is a graduate of The George Washington University (B.A. 2005) in Washington, DC where she majored in English and Film Studies.
Outside of the office: With an interest in small-scale urban interventions, Emaleigh’s improvement efforts on West Rockland Street in Northwest Philadelphia’s Germantown region serve as an example of what one Philadelphia city block can do to change its future.
Design favorite: Still marveling at the efficiency of the Dyson Airblade Hand Dryer.
