The YWCA Bellingham held its annual leadership breakfast Friday at the Hotel Bellwether ballroom, featuring keynote speaker and owner of WinkWink Boutique Jenn Mason.
Focusing on unapologetic leadership and courage in the face of controversy, this year’s leadership breakfast marked a return to in-person gatherings, complete with a continental breakfast, silent auctions and a moving speech by Mason.
Elected as a Bellingham school board director in 2017, shortly after opening up the all-ages sex shop WinkWink Boutique, Mason has recently come under fire for offering youth sex-ed classes.
In her speech, Mason discussed and showed the harassment and threats she received, culminating in a video of five men smashing rocks through the windows of WinkWink, which led to the store temporarily closing down.
Although the attack damaged the store, Mason said she was able to move the sex-ed classes to a safe location and continue the education.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to cancel the classes because of these people,” recalled Mason, as she pivoted her speech on how she dealt mentally with the backlash and damage.
Mason highlighted a few key points when being thrust into controversy. She focused on the idea of energy being finite, adding, “For everyone who hates me, I don’t have time to hate them back.”
Additionally, Mason reminded the audience that it’s important to be “hard on issues, and soft on people.” She expanded on this point by explaining that while the actions of the men who attacked her shop were unacceptable, it’s important to understand that they were likely impacted by a lifetime of toxic masculinity and misinformation.
Mason concluded her speech by asserting that people deserve effort and compassion, even if that effort leads to failure.
Emceeing the event was Kristina Martens, Bellingham City Council member and community activist.
Martens made sure to highlight the generous sponsors and those who helped bring the event together, including Pacific Security, who donated its security services to the event given Mason’s recent controversy.
YWCA Bellingham’s president Cathy Lehman explained the 115-year-old organization’s mission and history, then played videos of those who have utilized the services and housing on Forest Street. Women in the video described the YWCA housing services as not just a place to live, but also an opportunity, and a home. One woman even described the organization as “proof there are good people out there.”