Cantus Welcomes New Board Members

Please join us in welcoming our incoming board members new to the organization in the 2025-26 season. We’re so thrilled to have their collective skills and expertise on our board to help continue Cantus’ success in giving voice to shared human experience by inspiring audiences through song and word, sparking new depths of understanding and empathy.

Elisabeth Comeaux

Elisabeth Comeaux has served for the past 10 years as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, where she is responsible for annual sponsorships, grants, in-kind gifts, and capital projects. She helps to lead the direction of the corporate and foundation relations effort and develop appropriate solicitation strategies for major prospects consisting of corporations, private and community foundations, and tribal communities. Prior to her tenure at the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, she was able to build a solid foundation in fund development through seven years as Director of Institutional Relations at the Minnesota Opera and donor cultivation through three years as Associate Director of Stewardship at St. Olaf College. 

Elisabeth has also performed as a professional opera singer which prepared her well for her role in development. In the span of 19 years, she sang at the Kennedy Center with Washington Opera, the Lincoln Center with New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Minnesota Opera, and the National Symphony (D.C.). She had the honor of traveling abroad to sing with the Bournemouth Symphony (Mahler’s 4th Symphony) and at the Aldebourgh Festival for Copland’s The Tenderland (Laurie) and Britten’s Paul Bunyan (Tiny) and the subsequent recordings of these under the leadership of Philip Brunelle.  She is excited to share this expertise as a board member in support of the incredible artistry and mission of Cantus.

Wendy Dayton

Wendy Dayton had a nearly three decades long career in women’s fashion apparel retailing and manufacturing. She began her career holding various buying positions at Dayton’s followed by General Merchandise Manager of Women’s, Men’s and Children’s Apparel at Powers (a division of Associate Dry Goods in NY) in Minneapolis. She was CoFounder and President of Pinstripes Petites, Inc., a national chain of stores that sold to Sears in 1987 as its first specialty niche retailer. She later moved to New York where Liz Claiborne, Inc. created a new position for her, Sr. V.P. of Merchandising and Marketing of all four Women’s Divisions. In New York, she also was Vice-President of Design, Manufacturing and Sales of better private label apparel for Robert Terry, a division of the Kellwood Company, another Fortune 500 company. Customers included Saks Fifth Ave., Nordstrom, Brooks Brothers and Talbots. 

During her career and after her retirement she has served on over 30 boards that have reflected her interests in the arts, community services and conservation. She has also served many associations and committees as a volunteer, fundraiser and advisor in areas of education, politics, women’s rights, health and well-being and DEI. Her first volunteer job for three summers at The Guthrie Theatre began when she was 14 years old. 

She graduated from Blake School (Northrop Collegiate School) in 1969 and attended the School of Performing Arts, a division of California Western University, as a musical theater Stage Director major. 

Her late husband, Doug, was the Founder and first President of Target. Within the last year, she has rotated off the Smithsonian National Board and the YMCA of the North Board. Wendy is currently funding a pilot program to bring art and arts education from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to older participants of the YMCA Beacons program. She is happiest playing with her daughter Elizabeth’s, two sons who are three and five.

Phil Griffin

Phil Griffin began his career as a Staff Assistant during the first term of Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich. He spent the next four years as staff for the House Higher Education Division and the House Health and Welfare Committee before taking a position lob-bying for the Minnesota Medical Association. Phil was then hired by Physicians Health Plan (PHP) where he worked for the health plan, its management company UnitedHealthcare and PHP’s successor Medica. From 1993 to 2001 Phil was Vice President of Public Policy for PreferredOne. As the principal and owner of Griffin Government Consulting Phil represented American’s Health Insurance Plans, Johnson & Johnson, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, March of Dimes and others for 18 years. In January of 2019 Phil brought his clients to Ewald Consulting where he joined the Government Relations Group until he retired at the end of 2023. Phil is a graduate of Hamline University and William Mitchell College of Law.

EMMANUELLE MEHTA

Emmanuelle is a global, award-winning client engagement leader with proven ability to lead strategic and creative development of a broad spectrum of integrated advertising and marketing initiatives. She has spent her 17+ year career on the advertising agency side of the business and thrives in building relationships, creating a one-team-one-dream environment that helps her team achieve the objectives that have been set forth. Patience is her personal mantra. Emmanuelle has had the opportunity to create communications for Fortune 500 brands such as General Mills, Hilton, Luxottica, Sherwin-Williams and Kyndryl.

Emmanuelle has always had a strong passion for the arts, including concert & show choir and theater. This is where Emmanuelle met her husband, Kunal, and their relationship started 20+ years ago when she moved to Minnesota from the East Coast. Today, they reside in Deephaven, Minnesota, with their rambunctious six year old son, Remi, also a lover of music, theater and the arts. Aside from this, Emmanuelle spends her time immersing herself in new worlds from fantasy fiction novels, seeking out new cultures and foods through her extensive travels and finally a passion for the outdoors through skiing (which she’s been doing since she could walk).

Tee Phan

Tee Phan, a Vietnamese-American born and raised in Oahu, HI, now resides in Lakeville, MN. Her lifelong passion for music, arts, and community is reflected in her involvement (past and present) with the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, and VNTV Ohana. She continues to sing with South Metro Chorale and practice hula. Tee enjoys the outdoors, her dogs, and thrives in community-centered settings. A University of Hawaii – Manoa alumna with a BS in Travel Industry Management, bringing over 25 years of experience in hospitality. Currently, she serves as Talent Development Manager for 13 hotels and 1000+ associates, supporting leadership growth and development. Tee is excited to join the Cantus Board.

Bob Shoemake

Bob Shoemake serves as a Senior Fellow in the Center for the Common Good (CCG) at the University of St. Thomas. In that role, he focuses on advancing the university’s recent designation as a member of the global Age-Friendly University network, on expanding opportunities for intergenerational learning, and on deepening relationships within the university between people of differing faiths and of no faith.

Prior to joining CCG, Bob served as the Director of the Selim Center for Lifelong Learning at the University of St. Thomas. Now in its 52nd year, the Selim Center engages adult learners in high quality educational opportunities that promote growth in mind, body and spirit.

Bob has been involved with the education of adult learners for almost his entire career, working in business, academia and the non-profit sector. At the Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC) in the St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business, he developed programming in leadership and values for mid-level and senior business leaders. He has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of St. Thomas, where he taught business ethics to undergraduate and MBA students in its Opus College of Business and theology to undergraduates in its College of Arts and Sciences.

Bob has served on non-profit boards in South Carolina, Georgia, and Minnesota. He currently serves on the boards of Cantus and the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. He represented the University of St. Thomas on the board of the Macalester-Groveland Community Council, where he served as its president, and on the board of the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a past member and president of the board of the Minnesota Chorale, whose family of choirs includes ensembles for singers from 8 to 80. Shoemake helped found the Rochester (MN) Area Habitat for Humanity and chaired its Family Selection Committee.

Bob received a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and a Bachelor of Music Education in voice and choral conducting from the University of South Carolina. He has completed further graduate study at institutions in South Carolina and Minnesota.

Born in Florida and reared in South Carolina, Bob has lived in Minnesota for 42 winters. He enjoys music of many kinds, particularly choral singing. He recharges his batteries by cooking and loves to share food, wine and good conversation with old and new friends.