OAKLAND — Twenty-two former Alameda County inmates who have found a place in the workforce got a sendoff from the nonprofit that helped them on a new path in life.

It was the first of two such classes that Oakland’s Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, or BOSS, expects to graduate this year from its Career Training and Employment Center.

Seventeen of the graduates are Oakland residents; the others are from San Mateo, Richmond, Hayward, Livermore and San Leandro. Most of the work is entry-level.

Among the speakers addressing the graduates and their families at the First Unitarian Church on Friday was Van Jones, CNN commentator and former special adviser in the Obama administration.

“There’s nothing more important ongoing in the country as far as I’m concerned than this ongoing tidal wave of mass incarceration. Somebody has to open that door, and BOSS has been doing that a long time, better than anyone else. Despite the deck being stacked, you are literally producing miracles, turning breakdowns into breakthroughs,” he said via a recorded video that was shown.

Other speakers included City Councilwoman Annie Campbell-Washington, who thanked the graduates “for investing the time in yourself and making this huge achievement” and urged them to “give even more. I know that each of you has so much to give back to our young people in Oakland. Extend yourselves and your love.”

Another speaker, Al Sasser, was paroled in 2013 after spending 31 years behind bars.

“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things; you have to get out of your own way,” he said.

Dan Simmons, who was in prison until he turned his life around at age 39 and is now a program analyst for the city’s Human Services Department, spoke of how, when he got out of custody, “I had never graduated from anything. But I was tired.”

After two or three years of working for minimum wage, he signed up for an automotive course. “It was pretty expensive, but the first thing I ever completed,” he said.

It yielded him a pay raise, and then better job opportunities. “Higher education comes in all different forms,” he said, touting, among other things, certificate programs.

“Don’t let this be the last piece of paper you pick up. The more paper you get, the more paper (money) you get,” he urged the graduates.

Perhaps the most energetic speaker of the evening was the class valedictorian, Alexander Claxton. Addressing his classmates and his young family seated in the back of the church, he told the audience, “You can pay and play, or you can play and pay.

“We chose to play first, now we’re paying. This is the first step. It’s only the first step. You’ve got to commit to the process. Don’t get complacent. Can’t nobody do nothing to you unless you put yourself in that position.

“You earned this. It wasn’t given to you. We have to take accountability. Not just for our kids, for our community. It’s our turn,” he said.

The Career Training and Employment Center program, begun in 2014, is funded by a county probation department two-year, $1.5 million contract, BOSS executive director Donald Frazier said in an interview.

BOSS shares the work with another organization, La Familia, which covers Hayward, Fremont and Livermore, he said. The program coordinates with Peralta Community College District to find matches for clients with growing industries, “to give participants a better view of upward mobility,” he said.

“And it’s working,” he added.

Among the companies that have hired program graduates are Tesla, Ashley Furniture, the Port of Oakland, United Parcel Service, Community Housing Partnership, California Casters, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Every Dog Has its Daycare, Leaders in Community Alternatives, Shell and Nordstroms. A couple were hired into other BOSS programs.

Clients, either on parole or supervised probation, are referred by probation officers and considered medium- or low-risk, having served time for drugs, weapons or theft convictions, Frazier said.

The six-month program includes training in job seeking and skills such as resume writing, interviewing and professional attire. Once a client is working, there are 30- 90- and 180-day follow-ups, he said.

BOSS modeled the program on Baltimore’s “St. Wall Street.” It is one of many programs the organization runs to help homeless, poor and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency, Frazier said.

When the graduation ceremony had concluded, the gathering adjourned to a dinner prepared by current program participants.

Contact Mark Hedin 510-293-2452, 408-759-2132 or mhedin@bayareanewsgroup.com.