At the San Francisco Conference, the association (renamed in 1945 as the American Association for the United Nations) served as Secretariat for a coalition of 42 national organizations who were appointed by the State Department to provide input into the negotiations. These 42 "Consultants," which included such diverse organizations as the NAACP and the American Association of University Women, played a key role in ensuring that the Charter included both a mandate to advance human rights and a provision allowing for the formal participation of civil society organizations in UN deliberations.