Leading role at a growing organization that wasn't yet 'distinguished' when I started

My leading-role evidence came from an organization that grew substantially during my time there — meaning its reputation and standing at the point I'm arguing "distinguished" for is different from, and stronger than, its standing when I first took on the role. Wanted to share how I handled that timing question. What I focused on: documenting the organization's standing at the time of filing (current reputation, achievements, recognition), while being honest in my narrative about the trajectory — the organization grew, and my leading role was part of that growth, rather than me joining an already-established distinguished organization. I think this timing honesty actually strengthened the narrative rather than weakening it, since "helped build something into a recognized organization" is itself a meaningful story about impact. The key thing I made sure not to do: overstate the organization's reputation at points in time when it genuinely wasn't yet what it later became, since that kind of inflation is exactly the sort of inconsistency a careful reviewer might notice and that undermines credibility elsewhere in the file.