YOUTH
EMPOWERMENT
PERFORMANCE
PROJECT
Board
Allie n Steve Mullen
Board Co-Chair
Allie is a nationally recognized composer, music producer, singer and songwriter who has composed music for over 500 national TV commercials and 100 feature length documentaries and independent films. As an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, their days are spent exploring the intersection of music & film, with an emphasis on the cultural role of music. This fascination has led to their current work as a founding member of the Chicago Podcast Collective. Allie identifies as trans-feminine and ‘gender-mobile.’
Beth Martell
Board Treasurer
Bethany Martell (she/her) is the Vice President Research Operations at Rush University System for Health. In this role, Beth oversees research operations and infrastructure and leads the administrative operations for the research enterprise. This includes but is not limited to human subject and animal subject protections; sponsored programs administration; training and education for research faculty and staff; as well as systems and infrastructure needed to support and advance research activities across the portfolio including laboratory, community, and clinical based research activities.
Prior to joining Rush, Beth spent almost 20 years at UChicago Medicine: Pritzker
School of Medicine/Biological Sciences Division (BSD) and UC Medicine (Hospitals/Health System) facilitating and overseeing the clinical research portfolio. As the Executive Director of the Office of Clinical Research, she was responsible for all aspects of clinical research administration: Institutional Review Board; Research Billing (epic builds, charge review/sorting; patient account AP/AR); EPIC Research business owner; education and training; auditing; contract endorsement; research systems/IT; infrastructure; liaison with hospital and university.
Beth received her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She recently completed the requirements for the Harvard Medical School Executive
Education Certificate program in AI in Healthcare. She is actively involved in the
community serving as Treasurer for both the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Oak Park and the A.F. Ames Elementary School PTA in Riverside, IL.
Danielle Bainbridge
Board Secretary
Danielle Bainbridge (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Northwestern University, where she also holds courtesy appointments in Performance Studies and Black Studies. Her book, Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive, examines the lives of African American sideshow and freak show performers who were also enslaved and is currently under contract with NYU Press (Jan 2026). Danielle is also a creative writer, playwright, web series creator, and filmmaker. From 2017-2020 she was the co-creator, researcher, writer, and host of the PBS Digital Studios web series "The Origin of Everything," which focused on highlighting unusual and under-told history and streams on YouTube and Facebook. Her digital media work has been honored with Webby Awards, Telly Awards, and other award nominations.
Her creative nonfiction and fiction appear in Moko Magazine, Killens Review of Arts & Letters, and The Mechanics’ Institute Review Online. She was the inaugural winner of the 2015 Barry Lopez Prize for creative nonfiction from Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts (judged by Nick Flynn). Her memoir Dandelion was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Kore Press memoir award, the 2023 St. Lawrence Book Award from Black Lawrence Press, and the 2024 creative nonfiction prize from Autumn House Press. Dandelion won the inaugural 2024 Uplift Voices Nonfiction Prize from Jaded Ibis Press (judged by Myriam Gurba). It is currently under contract and scheduled to be published in November 2025. She received a 2016 scholarship from the Tin House creative writing workshop in Portland, Oregon.
As an artist and educator, Danielle is passionate about engaging communities that have traditionally been relegated to the margins by representing Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people with care and complexity. She is honored and excited to be joining YEPP's revolutionary mission.
Vincent Wiggins
Board Co-Chair
Dr. Vincent Wiggins is the Director of the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence at Southern California University of Health Sciences. Previously, he served as Dean of Career and Continuing Education Programs at Harry S. Truman College and Dean of Instruction at Harold Washington College in Chicago, where he worked with faculty and staff to support students’ academic success. Dr. Wiggins completed his Doctorate of Education in Curriculum Design at DePaul University. His research focuses on students’ academic success in higher education by using instructional technology and self-directed learning taking a holistic approach.
Dr. Wiggins is certified in Adult Education, Professional Leadership Training, IT Project Management, and Six Sigma. As a Master Online Teacher (MOT), Quality Matters Peer Reviewer, and Certified Online Learning Administrator (COLA), Dr. Wiggins’ commitment to education includes researching multiple delivery modes for learning that include hybrid and online learning. In his roles in management and as an educator, he has developed various training programs and facilitated workshops for students, faculty, and staff. His presentations include his passion for the importance of an all inclusive environment. He has presented on pedagogy, andragogy, and technology at professional conferences.