The Democratic National Committee has announced the hiring of recent Brown graduate Emilie Aries to lead the Rhode Island chapter of an Obama campaign off-shoot organization called "Organizing for America."

The group, according to a DNC statement, is "committed to building on and strengthening the historic grassroots network created during the Obama campaign and helping advance the President's agenda." There are active chapters in every state in the nation, according to DNC spokesman Michael Czin.

As state director, Aries is the only paid staffer in Rhode Island at this point. She'll begin working out of the state Democratic Party office in Pawtucket, although the organization is expected to rent its own office space, according to Czin, who declined to say how much Aries would be paid.

A political science major at Brown, Aries was a former volunteer for the Obama campaign in Rhode Island, Florida and New Hampshire.

Organizing for America will launch a "listening tour" across Rhode Island over the next few weeks to generate interest. The first event is scheduled for Tuesday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pilgrim Senior Center, 27 Pilgrim Parkway, in Warwick. Four subsequent events are already scheduled this month.