Denver Jewish Chamber of Commerce President Dr. Lee Weisbard
Dr. Lee Weisbard is all about building relationships, whether it is in her dental practice of 39 years or as the new president of the Denver Jewish Chamber of Commerce.
In both realms, Weisbard strives to enable people to feel respected and to make informed decisions about their dental health or their business relationships.
A native of New York, Weisbard graduated high school early. She came to Colorado to visit her father who lived in Basalt. He asked her if she’d like to go to college in Colorado, and she answered in the affirmative, starting at CU-Boulder in 1976. After undergrad, Weisbard decided to stay in Colorado and went to the CU School of Dental Medicine when it was at 9th and Colorado Blvd.
Out of dental school, Weisbard worked in public health at Denver Health for six years before starting her private practice in 1987 in the Denver Tech Center.
She was in her original location for 27 years before moving the practice to 4560 S. Quebec St.
The design of the office reflects Weisbard’s philosophy of spending quality time with each of her patients, providing them with all the information they need to for their optimum dental health.
Just past the reception area is a consultation room, a small glassed-in conference room, where Weisbard meets with all new patients to get to know them, hear about their dental concerns, and explore their medical history.
The room has a lighted screen to display X-rays so Weisbard can show her patients exactly what is happening with their oral health.
First and foremost, Weisbard is a dental professional, but she is also a business owner and the main producer for the business. “That means I am working in the business — doing the dentistry — but I’m also working on the business,” she says.
Her business model also reflects her desire to provide her patients with the best care: “I made a decision in 2002 that I could either be on everyone’s insurance plan and work for 60 cents on the dollar, or I could be paid fairly and I could treat people whom I have relationships with. I decided to be out-of-network with insurance, and be able to sit down and actually talk to people, rather than just ‘running by.’”
Weisbard explains that being in-network means the insurance providers “limit what you can do, the materials you can use and how many times you can see a patient.
“That just wasn’t a good fit for me. I feel like people deserve what’s going on with their health and be given information and education so they can make a good decision.
“Nobody wants to go to the dentist and just be told, ‘You need two fillings and a crown.’ They want to understand what’s happening in their mouth, why they need this and what the options are. What are the benefits of doing the treatment, and what are the risks of not doing it?
“We sit down in the consult room, we talk, we get to know each other. We build a relationship. We build trust.
“Now we still take their insurance and submit it. We still get insurance reimbursement. The big difference is I don’t write off the balance, because I would have to cut corners somewhere, and I’m not willing to do that. The patient knows that they’re getting me and my attention.”
Weisbard’s approach has garnered a large following and, as it turns out, the majority of her patients are Jewish. She says that that 15 or 20 years ago, she probably had about 10% Jewish patients, and now it is more like 75%.
Networking has a lot to do with that. Weisbard is involved in many Jewish, civic and professional organizations. She and her husband David Rosenthal are active at HEA, where David is on the davening team and teaches Bar and Bat Mitzvah students. They are the parents of six children.
Networking is also what makes the Denver Jewish Chamber of Commerce a good fit for Weisbard.
“If people in the community trust me to take care of their health needs, I need to be doing something for that community.”
Weisbard has been a leader in other networking groups, including E Women Network, the Alliance of Professional Women, Business Network International and the Dames.
She had been on the Denver Jewish Chamber board for nearly 10 years, and it was time for to step up and take a leadership position with that organization. She became president last summer, succeeding Jesse Blum.
I lead differently that some people do,” she says. “To me, it is important that we serve the membership, so we need to find out what the membership really wants out of the chamber, and how we can best serve them.”
Weisbard makes an effort to learn about the members’ businesses.
The chamber holds weekly alternating networking breakfasts and luncheons. Each event includes the opportunity for each attending member to stand-up and give a brief “elevator pitch” about their business with the goal of piquing the interest of other attendees.
After the elevator pitches, two members are afforded the opportunity to give 10-minute presentations about their businesses.
Weisbard makes it a point to personally ask the people in the room to sign up for the 10-minute talks: “I want you to sign up because I want to know what you do and why you are the person I need to be working with or referring to.”
Weisbard says she’s had good success with people signing up to talk and share what they do. That’s one way she supports the membership.
While the Chamber exists to help its members build their businesses, it also aims to help build the Denver Jewish community. The chamber often co-sponsors community-wide and events and it holds events jointly with other organizations, such as a Sukkot gathering at Chabad of South Metro Denver, and pizza get-together with Rabbi Raphael Leban at The Jewish Experience.
The chamber holds its annual event in the late summer, which includes a silent auction, and its annual Dreidel Networking, which is open to the entire community, free of charge. In 2025, the light-hearted event drew more than 100 people.
The motto of the Denver Jewish Chamber of Commerce is “Integrity, Inclusivity, Dignity.” Weisbard says she always keeps that in mind in both of her realms — as the head of her dental practice and as the head of the chamber.
© IJN 2026