[1] Previously, she was the Director of the program on nonviolent action at the United States Institute of Peace.

She studies authoritarianism, protest, and the effectiveness of violent and nonviolent types of civil resistance.

[2] Together with Erica Chenoweth, Stephan wrote the 2010 book Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.

[11] For Why Civil Resistance Works, Stephan and her coauthor Erica Chenoweth won the 2013 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

[13][14] Stephan's work has been covered extensively in media outlets like The Globe and Mail,[15] Vice,[16] NPR,[17] and Quartz.