Promise Neighborhood Partnerships The Promise Neighborhood is an area of West Philadelphia originally selected as a federally designated Promise Zone in 2014 due to persistent challenges in terms of economic, employment, and education outcomes. The Promise Zone initiative is designed to provide residents with the opportunities they need to lift themselves out of poverty and connect to high-quality education, jobs, affordable housing and a safe place to live and thrive. Drexel is proud to be located in the Promise Zone, and to be a key partner in these effort The ExCITe Center partners with many local organizations to support community-engaged research, youth programming, professional development for teachers, and digital inclusion initiatives.