About The MCS Agency
Strategy rooted in community.
Clara Matonhodze founded The MCS Agency to bring senior communications leadership to nonprofits and small businesses that have never had a marketing department.
The MCS Agency is a Cincinnati marketing communications agency led by Clara Matonhodze, who has more than 26 years of experience in media, journalism, nonprofit and civic work. The agency provides fractional CMO services to nonprofits, purpose-driven organizations and small businesses.
Clara’s story
From newsrooms to neighborhoods.
Clara built her communications career in media and journalism in Africa, then brought it to nonprofit and civic work in Cincinnati, where she has lived for more than 25 years. She has more than 26 years of experience.
That path shapes how she works. Journalism sharpened the questions she asks, and civic work keeps her close to the communities her clients serve.
Her practice applies two established communications frameworks: the GAP Communications System and the Signal Story Method.
Our philosophy
I am because we are.
Ubuntu is the guiding philosophy behind The MCS Agency. It holds that a person, an organization or a brand is strongest in relationship with others.
Every engagement starts with the people an organization serves and the community around it, because the strongest message is one that community members recognize as their own.
Voice and community
Work that continues beyond client projects.
Podcast
Roots, Routes & Voices: Stories That Shape America
Clara created and co-hosts the podcast with Cincinnati Compass.
Newsletter
Digital for the Rest of Us™
A biweekly LinkedIn newsletter on marketing, websites and AI for teams without a department behind them.
Column
Home Away From Home
Clara created this column for Women of Cincy.
Leadership
Boards and founding roles
Clara serves on the boards of Caracole Inc. and the Together Digital Foundation, and as Secretary of the Cincinnati-Harare Sister City Partnership. She is a founding member of the African Professionals Network (APNET) and the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, and advises APNET.
Business and trade
At the table where business gets done.
Clara represents The MCS Agency at business forums, including a forum in New York, and builds the relationships that connect organizations to opportunity.
Civic service
Secretary of the Cincinnati-Harare Sister City Partnership.
Clara serves as Secretary of the Cincinnati-Harare Sister City Partnership, a civic role. The partnership was marked with a signed city proclamation in Cincinnati.
The team
Three specialists, one strategy.
Clara Matonhodze
Founder and Principal Consultant
Alexandra Zunze
Agency Associate
Harsh Pathak
Website Developer and Designer
Questions
Questions about the agency.
Who is Clara Matonhodze?
Clara Matonhodze is the founder and principal consultant of The MCS Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has more than 26 years of communications experience that began in media and journalism in Africa and now spans nonprofit and civic work.
Where is The MCS Agency based?
The MCS Agency is based at 35 E. 7th Street, Suite 610, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and serves nonprofits and small businesses beyond the region.
What does Ubuntu mean for the agency’s work?
Ubuntu is a philosophy often expressed as “I am because we are.” At The MCS Agency it means every engagement starts with the people an organization serves and the community around it.
Who is on the team?
The team includes Clara Matonhodze, Founder and Principal Consultant; Alexandra Zunze, Agency Associate; and Harsh Pathak, Website Developer and Designer.
Tell us what your team is working toward.
Start with a conversation about your goals, your audience and the team you have today.
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