The National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS) emerged out a series of unification meetings initiated by Dr. Benjamin Chavis, who was the executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At one of those unification meetings, Dr Chavis asked for and received permission to use the name "African American Leadership Summit" as long as the word "National" was included, from Stephen E. Davis, President of the New York based, African American Leadership Summit.
After Dr. Chavis departed from his post at the NAACP, he convened a series of independent summit conferences for the leaders of civil rights organizations that led to the founding of NAALS in June, 1995.
NAALS was the primary civil rights organization that actively supported the Million Man March.