Dr. Kathleen A. Stephenson is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Change and Leadership in the Department of Management and Organization at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research explores how people and organizations navigate change—especially in contexts where inclusion, identity, and collaboration are at stake. She is particularly interested in how organizations can bring together diverse stakeholders to address complex “grand” challenges, and how thoughtful organizing can foster more resilient and equitable futures.

Dr. Stephenson contributes to the NWO-funded TASICI project, which examines how critical infrastructure organizations collaborate and transform in response to climate change. She is also a research member of Code-V, a non-profit initiative intended to accelerate funding in women entrepreneurs and doing research with the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) to explore how such programs can be scaled globally.

Her research has been published in leading journals including Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. She serves as Representative-at-Large for the Organization and Management Theory (OMT) Division of the Academy of Management and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Review.