Stephen Thorpe is the Secretary of the International Association of Facilitators and Editor-in-Chief of Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal.

He is a facilitator specialising in the online domain and trains others in online facilitation. Working with Zenergy, he has been researching ways to enhance the effectiveness of online groups. His PhD explores facilitation as a vital domain in assisting online groups with a focus on the benefits of storytelling in online relationship development.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours from the Auckland University of Technology where he has a background researching computer-assisted group work as part of a team who researched, developed and commercialised a multi-site interactive digital whiteboard. Stephen has also developed CD-ROM based tutorials for online training and has been a part-time lecturer teaching Computing, Globalisation and Business Information Management on the Bachelor of Business Degree.

Stephen has recently written chapters on The Use of Storytelling in Building Online Group Relationships in the Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Comminication, and a chapter entitled Facilitation Online in The Art of Facilitation and has previously co-written a chapter on Facilitator Values and Ethics in the IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation with Dr. Dale Hunter.