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.
The team
Three specialists, one strategy.
Clara Matonhodze
Founder and Principal Consultant
Clara leads strategy for every client as the agency’s fractional CMO. She has more than 26 years of communications experience that began in media and journalism in Africa and now spans nonprofit and civic work. She holds a degree in speech communications from Northern Kentucky University and certifications in Artificial Intelligence and other industry disciplines. Under her leadership, The MCS Agency is a Semrush Certified Agency, a Wix Icon Partner and a BBB Accredited Business.
Alexandra Zunze
Agency Associate
Alexandra is the agency’s graphic designer. She graduated magna cum laude from Cincinnati State with an associate degree in web and multimedia design and is pursuing a B.A. in visual communication design at Northern Kentucky University. She also leads marketing for APNET Community.
Harsh Pathak
Website Developer and Designer
Harsh builds and maintains the agency’s client websites on WordPress, Shopify and Wix, and handles branding and graphic design. He has more than 12 years of experience, has worked with the agency since 2022 and holds a Bachelor of Engineering in computer engineering from North Maharashtra University.
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.
She is a graduate of Harare Polytechnic College in mass communications, studied journalism at Rhodes University, and graduated from Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in speech communications, with studies in international relations. She holds certifications in Artificial Intelligence and other industry disciplines.
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. Launched in June 2025, it shares the stories of immigrants in the Cincinnati region.
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 and wrote this monthly Q&A column for Women of Cincy from 2019 to 2023, interviewing immigrant women in Greater Cincinnati about how they found home.
Leadership
Boards and founding roles
Clara serves on the boards of Caracole Inc. and Together Digital. She also serves on the Responsible AI Steering Committee of Cincy AI. She is a founding member of the African Professionals Network (APNET) and the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, and advises APNET. She previously served on the board of the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board.
Business and trade
At the table where business gets done.
Clara represents The MCS Agency at business forums, including one in New York presided over by His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe, and builds the relationships that connect organizations with opportunities.
Civic service
Secretary of the Cincinnati-Harare Sister City Partnership.
The partnership, which connects Cincinnati and Harare, Zimbabwe, was marked with a signed city proclamation in Cincinnati.
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. The team works hybrid, meeting in person in Cincinnati and virtually with clients anywhere.
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. They work as one team: Clara leads the strategy, and her team executes it for clients, from newsletters and social media to branding and websites.
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