[thinkingfish]

The nature of tech work means employees generally have more flexibility with their time, and can afford such involvement without jeopardizing their productivity or job. It is thus hard to quantify how much money it costs for such engagement.

I'm not disagreeing with your concern, but the mechanisms are a little different. As a result my opinion is that giving money to improve civic engagement among minorities, the poor, and under-privileged population is better discussed as a separate initiative.

That said, anybody can focus on projects that improve political engagement (making voting easier, help people find information about local politics) without bringing their political opinion/preference to the table.