Leadership of and for the parks and recreation profession The Academy has been organized as a nonprofit corporation under the General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act of the State of Missouri to operate exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes. Specifically, its objectives shall be: To advance knowledge related to the administration of public parks and recreation; To encourage scholarly efforts both by practitioners and educators to enhance the practice of public parks and recreation administration; To promote broader public understanding of the importance of public parks and recreation to the public good; To conduct research, publish scholarly papers and/or sponsor seminars related to the advancement of public parks and recreation administration. Practitioners and educators are nominated for membership in the Academy which is based upon 15 years of high level administrative experience, record of accomplishments, professional involvement, education, writing and speaking, and references from current members. The Academy is limited to 137 members who are practitioners, educators, and urban directors.