Proof Alliance Executive Director Sara Messelt will retire this year after 23 years with the organization. She will stay in her leadership post until a successor is named. 

Messelt joined Proof Alliance, formerly known as Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS), in 1999. She became executive director in 2007. She has provided transformative leadership on the issue of fetal alcohol syndrome disorder or FASD. Proof Alliance works to prevent FASD, and to help those who live with FASD. 

Highlights of Messelt’s tenure include passing landmark legislation requiring all children entering foster care to be screened for FASD and legislation requiring all foster parents in the state of Minnesota to have yearly training on FASD. She and proof Alliance have partnered with national organizations and institutions to provide training and education on screening for FASD and providing the support their patients need. 

She was very involved in efforts to launching Our Children are Sacred Center to bring Proof Alliance programming to tribal communities throughout Minnesota and the country. She also provided leadership in securing the Butler Special Projects grant that allowed the organization to renovate the building at 1876 Minnehaha Ave. W. St. Paul, Minnesota. The space is now the central hub for Proof Alliance staff and the many families and professionals who use its services. 

Messelt also led work to open the Proof Alliance FASD Clinic in St. Paul. Rebranding of MOFAS to proof Alliance was another of her projects.