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Rev. Bernice King, the youngest child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, on Friday became the first woman to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference civil rights organization co-founded by her father.

“I stand before you as a daughter of the civil rights movement calling forth the daughters and sons of the next generation of social change,” King said Friday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father preached from 1960 until his death in 1968. “I am a King, yet I am mindful that I am not the only one.”

Interim President Byron Clay announced the decision of the board of directors and notified King of the results of the election on Friday.

“She is excited,” Clay told reporters. “I am excited. The nation will be excited.”

King, who becomes the third in her family to serve as SCLC president, said she plans to work closely with The King Center and will reconnect people with her father’s philosophy of nonviolence. She said a key part of the organization’s success going forward will be recruiting and engaging younger members.

“Young people are ready,” King said. “They just need direction. Any movement of change always happens with young people.”

Women will also play a key role, she said.

“It is critical to the success of the next generation of social change to have the full and active commitment and participation of girls and women of all ages,” King said. “After all, as my mother would remind me, a woman’s place is in the struggle. We must be the soul of a nation.”

By a vote of 23 to 15, King defeated Judge Wendell Griffen of Little Rock, Ark, for the position. Griffen was the first black attorney to work for a major Arkansas law firm and is an ordained minister and pastor of New Millennium Church.

The SCLC has roughly 10,000 members and nearly 80 chapters in 17 states from Georgia to California.

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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights group co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. could name the daughter of the slain civil rights leader as its next president.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the SCLC now has only two of the initial five people who remain in contention for the top spot: the Rev. Bernice King and Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Wendell Griffen. On Oct. 29, the group will hold its election to determine who gets the nod to replace Charles Steele, who was in the post for five years. Most recently, the Rev. Byron Clay served as the interim president.

Martin Luther King Jr. served as the SCLC’s first president from 1957 until 1968, when he was assassinated. His son, Martin Luther King III, served as president from 1997 to 2004. If Bernice, 46, is chosen, she would be the first woman to head the group. The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who served from 1977 to 1997, was the SCLC’s longest-serving leader. An internationally known motivational speaker and author, Bernice King is a minister at New Birth Missionary Church in Lithonia, Ga.

Griffen, 57, was the first African-American attorney to work for a major Arkansas law firm. He is an ordained minister and former pastor who serves as coordinator of ministries at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Little Rock.

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