Stephen Thorpe is a group facilitator, researcher and trainer who specialises in online groups. With a background in researching and teaching computer assisted group work. Stephen assists leaders, facilitators and groups in online communication and group process to bring about change through the bringing together of community organisation and the internet.

Stephen is the Secretary on the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Board and Editor-in-Chief of Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal. He is also on the Advisory Panel of the Global Facilitators Service Corps (GFSC), a member of Heart Politics, The New Zealand Computer Society, and the Participation Community of Practice (part of New Zealand's E-government Strategy).

Working with Zenergy, Stephen 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 story in online relationship development. Stephen holds a Zenergy Diploma of Facilitation and a Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) where he has a background researching computer-assisted group work and teaching user-centered design. He was part of a team who researched, developed and commercialised a multi-site large interactive digital whiteboard. Stephen has also led projects developing online and CD-ROM based tutorials for IT systems modeling and builds websites for people in his spare time.

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

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