NEW YORK — Weber Shandwick New York creative head Angela Mears, who at 35 was already an 11-year agency veteran, passed away Thursday morning after suffering a medical emergency while in Buenos Aires, Weber Shandwick said.

“Angela was a force of life, a force for ideas, a force for friendship, a fearless woman who has rocked our world, our clients’ worlds and the world at large with her courage, compassion, generosity, wit, full-on genius and pure grace,” CEO Gail Heimann said in a statement. “Her loss is devastating and incomprehensible. For her family, foremost. And for the many, many in our network who loved her.”

Mears’ death was announced to her Weber colleagues Thursday in a memo from president Susan Howe, who said Mears had been in a Buenos Aires hospital in critical condition since suffering a medical emergency Monday morning"

“Her loved ones were by her side until the very end,” Howe said. “Angela donated her organs so others in Argentina could live on.”

Mears, whom Howe described as a one-of-a-kind “35-year-old creative wunderkind whose presence and talent belied her age,” was in Buenos Aires to judge the 2023 Andy Awards, which honor creative excellence in advertising.

Mears’ work won its own share of awards during her short career, including Cannes Lions, Eurobest, Clios and SABRE awards.  She and her partner Margaux Pepper won the Cannes Young Lions PR competition for North America in 2015.

Mears joined Weber Shandwick in 2011 as an intern after graduating from Northwestern University, and worked her way up through the creative ranks from there. Before being named New York CCO last September, she was the firm’s global creative executive director.

Said Howe, “She loved her family and her dog, Bernie, deeply.  She loved her friends and her Weber Shandwick family.  And she loved making beautiful, provocative, powerful work.  Our teams, our clients, our agency have benefited from her passion and talent.”